title: Proactive and reactive sequential effects on selective attention.
abstract: Sequences of events can affect selective attention either through proactive mechanisms, through reactive mechanisms, or through a combination of the two. The current study examined electrophysiological responses to both prime and target stimuli in a primed dichotic listening task. Each trial presented a distractor prime syllable followed by two simultaneous syllables, and participants were asked to report one of the simultaneous syllables. Trials where the participant reported the non-primed syllable showed more negative event-related potentials at prime presentation, which may indicate inhibition of the prime representation. Trials where the participant reported the primed syllable showed more negative event-related potentials at target presentation, which may indicate cognitive conflict and effortful response selection. In context of current theories, the data suggest that the interplay of a proactive inhibition bias and a reactive potential for conflict is involved in causing sequential effects on selective attention mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Operational Psychology Research Group, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Christies gate 12, N-5015 Bergen, Norway. satrevik@gmail.com
authors.forename: Bjørn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sætrevik
authors.forename: René Jürgen
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Huster
authors.forename: Christoph Siegfried
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Herrmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests / Q000379:methods; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cognitive conflict; Dichotic listening; Event-related potentials; Inhibition; Negative priming; Selective attention