Influence of Coactors on Saccadic and Manual Responses.
Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of coaction on saccadic and manual responses. Participants performed the experiments either in a solitary condition or in a group of coactors who performed the same tasks at the same time. In Experiment 1, participants completed a pro- and antisaccade task where they were required to make saccades towards (prosaccades) or away (antisaccades) from a peripheral visual stimulus. In Experiment 2, participants performed a visual discrimination task that required both making a saccade towards a peripheral stimulus and making a manual response in reaction to the stimulus's orientation. The results showed that performance of stimulus-driven responses was independent of the social context, while volitionally controlled responses were delayed by the presence of coactors. These findings are in line with studies assessing the effect of attentional load on saccadic control during dual-task paradigms. In particular, antisaccades - but not prosaccades - were influenced by the type of social context. Additionally, the number of coactors present in the group had a moderating effect on both saccadic and manual responses. The results support an attentional view of social influences.
Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Sweden.
Manuel
M
Oliva
Humanities Laboratory & Department of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden & Institute for Psychology, University of Muenster, Germany.
Diederick C
DC
Niehorster
Welten Institute, Open University of the Netherlands, The Netherlands.
Halszka
H
Jarodzka
Humanities Laboratory, Lund University, Sweden & UPSET, NWU Vaal, South Africa.
Kenneth
K
Holmqvist
Attention; cognition; divided attention/resource competition; endogenous/exogenous; eye movements; social cognition