ERIC Number: EJ1056034
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Nov
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
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Available Date: N/A
Learned Predictiveness Influences Rapid Attentional Capture: Evidence from the Dot Probe Task
Le Pelley, Mike E.; Vadillo, Miguel; Luque, David
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v39 n6 p1888-1900 Nov 2013
Attentional theories of associative learning and categorization propose that learning about the predictiveness of a stimulus influences the amount of attention that is paid to that stimulus. Three experiments tested this idea by looking at the extent to which stimuli that had previously been experienced as predictive or nonpredictive in a categorization task were able to capture attention in a dot probe task. Consistent with certain attentional theories of learning, responses to the dot probe were faster when it appeared in a location cued by a predictive stimulus compared to a location cued by a nonpredictive stimulus. This result was obtained only with short (250-ms or 350-ms) but not long (1,000-ms) delays between onset of the stimuli and the dot probe, suggesting that the observed spatial cuing effect reflects the operation of a relatively rapid, automatic process. These findings are consistent with the approach to the relationship between attention and learning taken by the class of models exemplified by Mackintosh's (1975) theory.
Descriptors: Task Analysis, Classification, Cues, Prediction, Associative Learning, Learning Theories, Attention, Correlation, Models, Visual Stimuli, Foreign Countries, College Students, Reaction Time
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (Wales)
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