title: The blocking effect in associative learning involves learned biases in rapid attentional capture.
abstract: Blocking refers to the finding that less is learned about the relationship between a stimulus and an outcome if pairings are conducted in the presence of a second stimulus that has previously been established as a reliable predictor of that outcome. Attentional models of associative learning suggest that blocking reflects a reduction in the attention paid to the blocked cue. We tested this idea in three experiments in which participants were trained in an associative learning task using a blocking procedure. Attention to stimuli was measured 250 ms after onset using an adapted version of the dot probe task. This task was presented at the beginning of each learning trial (Experiments 1 and 2) or in independent trials (Experiment 3). Results show evidence of reduced attention to blocked stimuli (i.e. "attentional blocking"). In addition, this attentional bias correlated with the magnitude of blocking in associative learning, as measured by predictive-value judgments. Moreover, Experiments 2 and 3 found evidence of an influence of learning about predictiveness on memory for episodes involving stimuli. These findings are consistent with a central role of learned attentional biases in producing the blocking effect, and in the encoding of new memories.
authors.affiliation: 1 School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.|2 Department of Basic Psychology, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3457-9204
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luque
authors.affiliation: 3 Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.|4 Department of Primary Care and Public Health Science, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Vadillo
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Basic Psychology, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.
authors.forename: María J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Cobo
authors.affiliation: 1 School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Mike E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Le Pelley
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D015982:Bias; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D014825:Vocabulary
keywords: Associative learning; attention; blocking; dot probe; memory