The Different Influence Of Perceptual Load And Working Memory Load On Interference Effects

There are two kinds of mechanisms of selective attention:the passive perceptual selection mechanism and the active cognitive control. With regard to the different influence of perceptual load(PL) and working memory load(WML) on attention selection,and the impact of PL and WML on interference effects of face distractor, this study intends to solve these following questions:(1)to prove that if the two factor of selective attention——PL and WML having different influence on the interference effects of the same stroop task relies on the level of perceptual load, or WML overlaping with mechanisms involved in target or distractor processing.(2)to prove that WML can't change the attention selecting of face distractor which is the same as PL; to prove that whether face WML can adjust the interference effects of face distractor?This research designs two experiments. Exp. One uses within-subjects design which includes PL and task type as two factors. Eighteen subjects must do 6 small experiments, which include 2 baseline tasks (the low PL "word——arrow" stroop task and the high PL "word——arrow" stroop task) and 4 double-tasks of two single-task combination (each of the 2 baseline tasks combines with verbal WM task and the spatial WM task). The low PL "word——arrow" stroop task needs subjects to judge the meaning of a central word which is "left" or "right" in Chinese on the picture, to ignore upward and downward arrows which orient left or right meanwhile. Different with the low PL "word——arrow" stroop task, the high one has four words in the central of the picture, among which there is a "left" or "right" word. The results of Exp. One find that, interference effects increase when the type of WML overlaps with the type of resource required for the interference task; In striking contrast, interference effects decrease, or disappear (even the RT of incongruence minus the RT of congruence is negative) when the type of WML overlaps with distractor processing.Exp. Two designs baseline task and double-task as well. It observes the interference effects of the "name——face" stroop task through changing the current type of WML. Let eighteen subjects finish 3 small experiments (one is "name——face" stroop task which is baseline task, the another two are two double-tasks which are the combination of "name——face" stroop task and verbal WM task, and the combination of "name——face" stroop task and face WM task). The "name——face" stroop task needs subjects to indicate whether a central name is a politician's or a star's name, while ignoring a politician's or a star's face next to the name (The distractor could be either the face of the person named, or the face of a person from the opposite category, both of which make up congruence and incongruence conditions). The results of Exp. Two indicate that, verbal WML can't influence the interference effects of the "name——face" stroop task, nevertheless, face WML can decreases the interference effects of face distractor, this may due to the same type of resource of face WML and face distractor. Sharing resource weakens the attention processing of face distractor.