Probe distractors can influence negative priming by perceptual grouping.
Negative priming occurs when a response is slower to a target that was a previously ignored stimulus. According to a computational model of inhibition, negative priming results from relative activation between a target and a distractor in probe trials. Thus, the degree of competition in the probe trial should influence negative priming. The results from three experiments supported this hypothesis. Probe distractors grouped with a target by a rectangle produced a larger negative priming effect than did distractors isolated from the target. Moreover, neither prime-probe similarity nor perceptual interference could explain the grouping effect. The results suggest that perceptual mechanisms can influence negative priming via a race in the probe trial.
Yeh
Yei-Yu
YY
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. yyy@ntu.edu.tw
Chao
Hsuan-Fu
HF
D001288:Attention; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D011930:Reaction Time; D014796:Visual Perception