Eye movements are captured by a perceptually simple conditioned stimulus in the absence of explicit contingency knowledge. Emotion 2016 Dec;16(8):1157-1171
Date
06/28/2016Pubmed ID
27348496DOI
10.1037/emo0000206Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84975700584 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 16 CitationsAbstract
Past reports suggest that threatening materials can impact the efficiency of goal-directed behavior. However, questions remain about whether a conditional stimulus (CS) can capture attention as previous results may have been influenced by voluntary prioritization of a to-be-ignored CS. In 2 experiments, eye tracking was used to evaluate whether neutral, perceptually simple materials capture attention when they take on aversive properties via probabilistic fear conditioning with strict methods in place to eliminate voluntary CS prioritization. During training, participants attempted to fixate search targets (i.e., horizontally or vertically oriented rectangles) as quickly as possible to avoid shock. In reality, shock administration was related to rectangle orientation so that 1 rectangle (CS+) predicted shock more often than the other (CS-). Subsequently rectangles became distractors and were to be ignored. At this point, participants were instructed to fixate a new target and incidences of CS capture were examined. Results showed that saccades were made more quickly to the CS+ than the CS- as training progressed, and that oculomotor capture by irrelevant rectangles occurred more often for the CS+ than the CS-. An independent physiological index (skin conductance response) confirmed that contingencies had been learned, as SCR magnitude was greater for CS+ than CS- trials early in the test phase. These effects were documented despite the absence of explicit contingency knowledge, assessed using a postexperimental questionnaire. Collectively, these outcomes indicate that a CS can capture attention despite being task-irrelevant, and that these effects do not depend on conscious awareness of learned contingencies. (PsycINFO Database Record
Author List
Hopkins LS, Helmstetter FJ, Hannula DEAuthor
Fred Helmstetter PhD Professor in the Psychology / Neuroscience department at University of Wisconsin - MilwaukeeMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Attention
Awareness
Conditioning, Classical
Electric Stimulation
Eye Movements
Fear
Female
Galvanic Skin Response
Humans
Knowledge
Male
Young Adult
