title: Self-bias modulates saccadic control.
abstract: We present novel data on the role of attention in eliciting enhanced processing of stimuli associated with self. Participants were required to make pro- or anti-saccades according to whether learned shape-label pairings matched or mismatched. When stimuli matched participants were required to make an anti-saccade, and when the stimuli mismatched a pro-saccade was required. We found that anti-saccades were difficult to make to stimuli associated with self when compared to stimuli associated with a friend and a stranger. In contrast, anti-saccades to friend-stimuli were easier to make than anti-saccades to stranger-stimuli. In addition, a correct anti-saccade to a self-associated stimulus disrupted subsequent pro-saccade trials, relative to when the preceding anti-saccade was made to other stimuli. The data indicate that self-associated stimuli provide a strong cue for explicit shifts of attention to them, and that correct anti-saccades to such stimuli demand high levels of inhibition (which carries over to subsequent pro-saccade trials). The self exerts an automatic draw on attention.
authors.affiliation: a Cognitive Neuropsychology Centre, Department of Experimental Psychology , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yankouskaya
authors.affiliation: a Cognitive Neuropsychology Centre, Department of Experimental Psychology , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.affiliation: a Cognitive Neuropsychology Centre, Department of Experimental Psychology , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stolte
authors.affiliation: a Cognitive Neuropsychology Centre, Department of Experimental Psychology , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sui
authors.affiliation: a Cognitive Neuropsychology Centre, Department of Experimental Psychology , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Humphreys
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001244:Association; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D015982:Bias; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention; Saccadic control; Self-bias