title: Self-directedness and the susceptibility to distraction by saliency.
abstract: People with low Self-directedness (SD) tend to explain their behaviour as being significantly influenced by events in the external environment. One important dimension of external cues is their level of salience: highly salient external stimuli are more likely to capture attention, even when such stimuli are not relevant to goals. We examined whether adults reporting low SD would exhibit greater susceptibility to distraction by highly salient external stimuli. Fifty-four (42 males) subjects completed the Attention Modulation by Salience Task (AMST) measuring reaction times to early- or late-onset auditory stimuli in the presence of high- or low-salience visual distractors. SD was assessed via self-report, and analyses tested the relationship between SD and performance on the AMST. Results showed a slowed early response to auditory cues during high salience compared to low salience. Indeed, individuals reporting low SD showed stronger salience interference, suggesting that external causality attribution is accompanied by a subconscious perceptual deficit.
authors: a Clinical Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory , Magdeburg , Germany.|b Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Otto von Guericke University , Magdeburg , Germany.
authors: Katharina
authors: K
authors: Dinica
authors: a Clinical Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory , Magdeburg , Germany.|c Department of Neurology , Otto von Guericke University , Magdeburg , Germany.|d Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology , Magdeburg , Germany.
authors: Liliana Ramona
authors: LR
authors: Demenescu
authors: a Clinical Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory , Magdeburg , Germany.|b Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Otto von Guericke University , Magdeburg , Germany.
authors: Anton
authors: A
authors: Lord
authors: a Clinical Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory , Magdeburg , Germany.|b Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Otto von Guericke University , Magdeburg , Germany.
authors: Anna Linda
authors: AL
authors: Krause
authors: e Department of Psychiatry , Harvard Medical School, and Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital , Belmont , MA , USA.
authors: Roselinde
authors: R
authors: Kaiser
authors: a Clinical Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory , Magdeburg , Germany.|b Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Otto von Guericke University , Magdeburg , Germany.
authors: Dorothea
authors: D
authors: Horn
authors: b Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Otto von Guericke University , Magdeburg , Germany.|d Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology , Magdeburg , Germany.|f Centre for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS) , Magdeburg , Germany.|g Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research (IKND) , Magdeburg , Germany.|h German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) , Magdeburg , Germany.
authors: Coraline Danielle
authors: CD
authors: Metzger
authors: a Clinical Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory , Magdeburg , Germany.|b Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Otto von Guericke University , Magdeburg , Germany.|d Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology , Magdeburg , Germany.|f Centre for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS) , Magdeburg , Germany.
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Walter
keywords: Self-directedness; distractibility; early processing; salience; selective attention