When global and local information about attentional demands collide: evidence for global dominance.

This study investigated how global and local information about attentional demands influence attentional control, with a special interest in whether one information source dominates when they conflict. In Experiment 1, we manipulated proportion congruence in two blocks (i.e., mostly congruent versus mostly incongruent) of a Stroop task to create different global demands (i.e., low versus high, respectively). Additionally, we created different local demands by embedding 10-trial lists in each block that varied in their proportion congruence (10% to 90% congruent), and half the lists were preceded by a valid precue explicitly informing participants of upcoming attentional demands. Stroop effects were smaller in mostly incongruent compared with mostly congruent blocks demonstrating the influence of global information. Stroop effects also varied according to the proportion congruence of the abbreviated lists and differed between cued and uncued lists (i.e., cueing effect), demonstrating the influence of local information. Critically, we found that global and local information interacted, such that the cueing effect differed between the two blocks. While there was evidence that participants used the precue to relax control for mostly congruent lists within the mostly congruent block, the cueing effect was absent within the mostly incongruent block. In Experiment 2, we replicated the latter pattern and thereby provided further evidence that participants do not use local precues to relax control when attentional demands are globally high. The findings suggest that both global and local information sources influence the control of attention, and global information dominates local expectations when the information sources collide.

The dominance of item learning in the location-specific proportion congruence paradigm.

Prior research has shown that various cues are exploited to reactively adjust attention, and such adjustments depend on learning associations between cues and proportion congruence. This raises the intriguing question of what will be learned when more than one cue is available, a question that has implications for understanding which cue(s) will dominate in guiding reactive adjustments. Evidence from a picture-word Stroop task demonstrated that item learning dominated over location learning in a location-specific proportion congruence (LSPC) paradigm, a pattern that may explain the difficulty researchers have faced in replicating and reproducing the LSPC effect. One goal was to reproduce this pattern using a non-overlapping two-item set design that more closely matched prior studies, and another goal was to examine generalisability of the pattern to two other tasks. Using a prime-probe, colour-word Stroop task (Experiment 1), and a flanker task (Experiment 2), we again found clear dominance of item learning. In Experiment 3, we attempted to disrupt item learning and promote location learning by using a counting procedure that directed participants' attention to location. Once again, we found the same pattern of item dominance. In addition, in none of the experiments did we find evidence for conjunctive (location-item) learning. Collectively, the findings suggest item learning is neither design- or task-specific; rather, it is robust, reliable, and not easily disrupted. Discussion centres on factors dictating dominance of item- over location-based adjustments and implications for the broader literature on LSPC effects.

The shaping of cognitive control based on the adaptive weighting of expectations and experience.

Existing approaches in the literature on cognitive control in conflict tasks almost exclusively target the outcome of control (by comparing mean congruency effects) and not the processes that shape control. These approaches are limited in addressing a current theoretical issue-what contribution does learning make to adjustments in cognitive control? In the present study, we evaluated an alternative approach by reanalyzing existing data sets using generalized linear mixed models that enabled us to examine trial-level changes in control within abbreviated lists that varied in theoretically significant ways (e.g., probability of conflict; presence vs. absence of a precue). For the first time, this allowed us to characterize (a) the trial-by-trial signature of experience-based processes that support control as a list unfolds under various conditions and (b) how explicit precues conveying the expected probability of conflict within a list influence control learning. This approach uncovered novel theoretical insights: First, slopes representing control learning varied depending on whether a cue was available or not suggesting that explicit expectations about conflict affected whether and the rate at which control learning occurred; and second, this pattern was modulated by task demands and incentives. Additionally, analyses revealed a cue-induced heightening of control in high conflict likelihood lists that mean level analyses had failed to capture. The present study showed how control is shaped by the adaptive weighting of experience and expectations on a trial-by-trial basis and demonstrated the utility of a novel method for revealing the contributions of learning to control, and modulation of learning via precues. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

On the automaticity of reactive item-specific control as evidenced by its efficiency under load.

Traditionally cognitive control is described as slow-acting, effortful, and strategic. Against this backdrop, the notion of "automatic control" is an oxymoron. However, recent findings indicate control also operates quickly with adjustments occurring outside awareness, leaving open the possibility that control could be automatic under certain conditions. Harnessing one such finding, the item-specific proportion congruent (ISPC) effect (i.e., reduction in congruency effect for mostly incongruent compared with mostly congruent items), we systematically investigated the automaticity of reactive item-specific control by examining its efficiency under a concurrent load. In four experiments using a picture-word Stroop task, participants first performed a block of trials in which an ISPC manipulation was embedded to acquire the item-control associations. In later blocks, we manipulated working memory load within-subjects (verbal in Experiment 1, visuospatial in Experiment 2, and n-back updating in Experiments 3 and 4) and compared the ISPC effect between low- and high-load conditions. The results of all four experiments showed that the ISPC effect was robust regardless of working memory load. In Experiment 4, we additionally included diagnostic items to assess whether transfer of item-specific control settings was also automatic. The ISPC transfer effect was abolished under high working memory load. Collectively, the findings suggest that reactive item-specific control is triggered and executed in an automatic manner (regardless of the available attentional resources), but only for items that directly support learning of the item-control associations that underlie item-specific control. We propose several hypotheses to account for these findings and discuss theoretical implications for control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

What can be learned in a context-specific proportion congruence paradigm? Implications for reproducibility.

Crump and Milliken (2009) reported a context-specific proportion congruence (CSPC) effect for inducer and diagnostic sets, the strongest evidence to date of context-specific control. Attempts to replicate/reproduce this evidence have failed, including Experiment 1. Using a picture-word Stroop task, we tackled the question of how to interpret such failures by testing the consistency hypothesis (Hutcheon & Spieler, 2017) and two novel hypotheses inspired by our theorizing about learning opportunities in the CSPC paradigm. Experiment 2 found a CSPC effect when there was no diagnostic set, supporting the consistency hypothesis. Experiment 3 produced novel evidence for item-PC learning in a CSPC paradigm. In contrast, Experiment 4 did not produce strong evidence for location-item conjunctive learning. Our findings suggest failures to replicate/reproduce the CSPC effect do not necessarily indicate a Type I error or instability but instead may indicate episodic representations were organized based on item and not location. This item-PC learning hypothesis uniquely predicted Experiment 3 findings and accommodates findings of all but one prior attempt to replicate/reproduce the CSPC effect for inducer and diagnostic sets, including Experiment 1. Predicting whether future attempts are successful will require deeper understanding of the factors that promote learning of item-PC versus location-PC associations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Approach and avoidance movements modulate value-driven attentional capture.

Recent studies have shown that visual features that were previously associated with a high monetary reward attract visual attention, a finding referred to as value-driven attentional capture. Given the fact that a reward often follows an action, the present study examined how approach and avoidance movements made to achieve a reward might modulate value-driven attentional capture. Experiment 1 revealed that a color that was previously associated with a high reward was more likely to capture visual attention than a color that was previously associated with a low reward, but only when the reward had been achieved by an approaching movement. In contrast, when the reward had been achieved by an avoiding movement, a color that was associated with a low reward was more likely to capture attention than a color that was associated with a high reward. Experiment 2 replicated the key findings of Experiment 1. Experiment 3 showed that approaching and avoiding movements do not modulate attentional capture on their own, in the absence of any reward. Overall, the present study revealed for the first time that visual features that were previously associated with compatible action and reward pairs prioritize visual selection. These novel findings show how the history of action and reward interactively modulates visual selection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessing the temporal learning account of the list-wide proportion congruence effect.

In this article, we assess an alternative account of a key experimental pattern thought to index top-down control. The list-wide proportion congruence effect is the well-documented pattern whereby the congruency effect (i.e., Stroop effect) is attenuated in lists containing mostly incongruent trials relative to lists containing mostly congruent trials. This pattern has typically been interpreted as a signature of a top-down control mechanism that modulates attention to the word dimension based on the global probability of encountering conflict between the word and color. However, Schmidt (2013a, 2013b) has proposed an alternative account that stresses relative temporal differences in responding between mostly incongruent and mostly congruent lists rather than relative differences in the control of attention. To assess this temporal learning account, we evaluate the evidence reported by Schmidt (2013a) and report new analyses of three previously published data sets in which a list-wide proportion congruence effect was observed after controlling for other potential confounds. These analyses targeted three key topics: effects of reaction time (RT) transformations, statistical support for temporal learning, and measurement of temporal rhythm. The evidence for the temporal learning account was neither strong nor consistent, and there was a highly significant list-wide proportion congruence effect that survived multiple attempts to control for temporal learning. Accordingly, we conclude that the temporal learning account is not currently a robust alternative to the global control account in explaining list-wide proportion congruence effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Action influences unconscious visual processing.

It has long been known that action is tightly linked to visual perception. In support of this connection, recent studies have shown that making a simple action towards a visual object can bias subsequent visual processing of features of the acted-on object. The present study examined whether conscious awareness of the acted-on object is necessary to yield this action effect. In two experiments, we found that making an action towards an invisible object resulted in greater priming in a subsequent visual search task. This shows that conscious awareness is not necessary to obtain the action-induced visual bias. More importantly, the result implies that action might amplify the sensory signal from the subliminally presented object, which is presumed to occur during early visual processing.

Tool use produces a size illusion revealing action-specific perceptual mechanisms.

In four experiments, participants estimated the sizes of target objects that were either out of reach, or that could be reached by a tool (a stylus or laser pointer). Objects reachable with the aid of a tool were perceived to be smaller than identical objects without a tool. Participants' responses to questioning rule out demand characteristics as an explanation. This new size illusion may reflect a direct impact of tool use on perceived size, or it may stem from the effects of tool use on perceived distance. Both possibilities support action specific accounts of perception.

Reduced object-based perception in the near-hand space.

Previous studies have shown that hand proximity changes visual perception (Abrams et al. in Cognition 107(3):1035-1047, 2008). The present study examined the effects of hand proximity on object-based perception. In three experiments, participants viewed stimuli that were either near to or far from their hands. The target stimulus appeared, after a cue, in one of two rectangular objects: either at the location that had been previously cued, at the uncued end of the cued object, or in the uncued object. We found a significantly reduced same-object benefit in reaction time for stimuli near the hands in one experiment. Interestingly, we observed a same-object cost in sensitivity for stimuli near the hands in another experiment. The results reveal that object-based perception is disrupted in the near-hand space. This is consistent with previous findings revealing altered visual processing near the hands.

Dose of GnRH agonist (nafarelin acetate) affects intrafollicular PAPP-A expression in controlled ovarian hyperstimulation cycle.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of dose of GnRH agonist on the follicular environment in controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) cycles. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty-eight IVF patients with normal ovarian function were divided into three groups: group I received GnRHa (nafarelin acetate/Synarel) intranasally at 200 microg daily, group II received 400 microg daily until hCG injection, and group III was given 400 microg daily before the initiation of ovarian stimulation, then 200 microg daily before the day of hCG injection. Serum estradiol, progesterone, and leptin levels were measured on the day of hCG injection. After aspiration, expression of pregnancy-associated alpha-plasma protein (PAPP)-A in the follicular fluid of dominant follicles (>20 mm) was determined by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: No significant difference was noted in serum estradiol, progesterone, and leptin levels. But intrafollicular PAPP-A expression was significantly higher in group II compared to other groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The dose of GnRHa may have an impact on the intrafollicular environment of dominant follicles in COH cycles.