Interactive Effects of Task Set and Working Memory on Attentional Capture
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1
The University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, Australia
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2
The University of Queensland, School of Psychology, Australia
When we search for objects with particular features, activity in brain networks is biased to preferentially process any objects possessing those features. Maintaining such biases, or attentional sets, may involve similar neural resources to those involved in working memory (WM). If so, taxing WM should reduce top-down influences on attentional capture. We used electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain activity while observers monitored dynamic stimulus streams at the midline for targets defined by a particular feature value (e.g., red), and ignored lateralized distractors. First, we replicated previous evidence for top-down modulation of attentional capture by demonstrating an enhanced N2pc component and slowed target responses when distractors possessed the target feature. We then investigated whether taxing WM reduces the effect of task set on attentional capture. A concurrent n-back task, which requires information to be maintained and manipulated in memory, eliminated the influence of task set by reducing the N2pc associated with task-relevant distractors. By contrast, a concurrent digit rehearsal task, which only requires information maintenance, did not change the effect on task set on the N2pc. Neither WM load manipulation affected the extent to which distractors slowed target responses. These results indicate that some - but not all - WM load manipulations compromise set-related biases associated with visual search for specific object features. The findings support the notion that WM and selective attention compete for common neural resources.
Keywords:
visual attention,
Cognitive Load,
feature-based attention,
Working memory load,
contingent attentional capture
Conference:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
Attention
Citation:
Jacoby
O,
Remington
R,
Becker
S,
Kamke
M and
Mattingley
J
(2015). Interactive Effects of Task Set and Working Memory on Attentional Capture.
Conference Abstract:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00083
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Received:
19 Feb 2015;
Published Online:
24 Apr 2015.
*
Correspondence:
Mr. Oscar Jacoby, The University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, Brisbane, Australia, o.jacoby@uq.edu.au