Attention extends beyond single words in beginning readers

A common notion is that during the first stages of learning to read, attention is narrowly focused so as to encompass only a single or a few letters. In skilled adult readers, however, attention extends beyond single words. The latter is evidenced by faster recognition of words that have many letters in common with surrounding words, along with correlations between such integration effects and measures of attention. These premises suggest that the distribution of attention gradually increases as a function of reading skill, and that this progression can be mapped by measuring spatial integration effects across the course of reading development. The latter was undertaken in the present study, in which we employed the flanker paradigm combined with the lexical decision task. Children in grades 1―6 (N = 113) were shown central target words flanked by various types of orthographically related and unrelated flanking stimuli. Against expectations, significant effects of flanker relatedness on word recognition speed were found in the youngest children, and this effect was not modulated by reading age. Our results challenge the notion that attention is focused on single letters in beginning readers, and instead suggest that, from the earliest stages of reading development, orthographic processing can extend beyond single words.

Contextual cues as modifiers of cTBS effects on indulgent eating

BackgroundPrior studies have found that continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) targeting the left dlPFC results in reliable increases in consumption of calorie-dense food items. However, it is not known to what extent such effects are modified by cues in the immediate eating environment. Tempting environments (i.e., those saturated with appetitive eating cues) may lead to more reliance on cognitive control networks involving the dlPFC, thereby enhancing cTBS on eating.Objective/HypothesisThe objective was to examine the extent to which cTBS effects on eating would be modified by contextual cues. It was hypothesized that cTBS effects on eating would be stronger in the presence of facilitating cues.MethodsUsing a between-subjects factorial design, 107 adults were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: 1) active cTBS + facilitating cues, 2) sham cTBS + facilitating cues, 3) active cTBS + inhibiting cues, 4) sham cTBS + inhibiting cues. Following stimulation participants completed a flanker paradigm and a taste test during which quantity consumed was assessed surreptitiously.ResultsFindings revealed a significant interaction between stimulation and cue type (F(1,102)=6.235, p=.014), such that the effects of cTBS were stronger for those in the facilitating cue condition.ConclusionsThe effects of cTBS on eating are strengthened in the presence of facilitating cues. Methodologically speaking, facilitating cues may be a functional prerequisite for exploring cTBS effects on eating in the laboratory. Substantively, the findings also suggest that facilitating cues in the eating environment may amplify counter-intentional food indulgence in everyday life via cognitive control failure.

Object closure affects the strength of object-based attentional filtering

Shifts of object-based attention (OBA) are affected by object closure in the double-rectangle cueing paradigm (Marino & Scholl, 2005). The effect of closure on object-based selection and attentional filtering strength have not previously been investigated. Using a modified flanker paradigm (Eriksen & Eriksen, 1974), we presented subjects either a set of vertically oriented rectangles (rectangle condition) or those same rectangles with the horizontal top/bottom of each rectangle removed (line condition). In Experiments 1 & 2, a centrally presented object was flanked by four identical objects. One end of the central (target containing) object was then exogenously cued. Subjects performed a letter discrimination task on a color singleton target letter appearing on the central object in the presence of flanker letters (on flanking objects) that were either compatible or incompatible with the target response. Experiment 1 (homogeneously rectangle or line objects) showed that OBA selection is strong when objects are closed, preventing flankers from influencing performance. Experiment 2 (spatial attention control) showed that closure does not affect performance without OBA selection. Experiments 3 (flanking line objects) and 4 (flanking rectangle objects) showed that both target & flanking objects play a role in attentional filtering of distracters. During object-based attentional selection, flanking (non-selected) perceptual objects may serve to confine the effects of distracters while target (selected) perceptual objects may serve to shield the target from the effects of distracters.