title: A high-loaded hemisphere successfully ignores distractors.
abstract: We used a response competition paradigm to investigate whether a distractor is effectively rejected under conditions where it is projected to a highly-loaded hemisphere. In two experiments we asked right-handed participants to identify a target among five task-relevant letters while they ignored a distractor. We manipulated both the distractor visual-field (low-load/high-load) and the compatibility of the target and the distractor. In the low-loaded visual-field, we presented a distractor with one task-relevant stimulus to one visual-field and the remaining task-relevant stimuli to the opposite visual-field. In the high-loaded visual-field, we presented a distractor and task-relevant stimuli in reverse. In Experiment 1 (left/right), we found a compatibility effect for the low-loaded, but not for the high-loaded visual-field. In Experiment 2, this modulation of the compatibility effect did not appear when the upper/lower visual-field was manipulated. These findings demonstrate that a distractor is successfully ignored when it is presented to a highly-loaded hemisphere.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Aichi Shukutoku University, Nagakute-cho, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Ritsuko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Kazuhito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshizaki
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D001364:Awareness; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D012193:Reversal Learning; D014794:Visual Fields; D055815:Young Adult