Attentional capture in schizophrenia and schizotypy: Effect of attentional load

Ducato, M. G.; Thomas, Pierre; Monestès, Jean‐Louis; Despretz, Pascal; Boucart, Muriel

doi:10.1080/13546800701707371

Cited by 22 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…This suggests that the lesions have a direct effect on attentional capacity, reducing the amount of perceptual load necessary to induce early selection. Similar results have been observed in people with schizophrenia and schizotypal personality (Ducato, Thomas, Monestes, Despretz, & Boucart, 2008). There has been disagreement as to whether schizophrenia results in reduced or increased attentional capacity, with many studies producing different results using different paradigms.…”

Section: Individual Differences Under Loadsupporting

confidence: 69%

Twenty years of load theory—Where are we now, and where should we go next?

2016

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Selective attention allows us to ignore what is taskirrelevant and focus on what is task-relevant. The cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie this process are key topics of investigation in cognitive psychology. One of the more prominent theories of attention is perceptual load theory, which suggests that the efficiency of selective attention is dependent on both perceptual and cognitive load. It is now more than 20 years since the proposal of load theory, and it is a good time to evaluate the evidence in support of this influential model. The present article supplements and extends previous reviews (Lavie, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 75-82. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.12.004, 2005, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19, 143-148. doi:10.1177/ 0963721410370295, 2010 by examining more recent research in what appears to be a rapidly expanding area. The article comprises five parts, examining (1) evidence for the effects of perceptual load on attention, (2) cognitive load, (3) individual differences under load, (4) alternative theories and criticisms, and (5) the future of load theory. We argue that the key next step for load theory will be the application of the model to real-world tasks. The potential benefits of applied attention research are numerous, and there is tentative evidence that applied research would provide strong support for the theory itself, as well as real-world benefits related to activities in which attention is crucial, such as driving and education.Keywords Selective attention . Perception . Perceptual load . Load theory . Distraction . Visual attention Selective attention is the ability to focus on that which is important to the task at hand while ignoring or suppressing task-irrelevant information. A key question that has fuelled much debate and research in psychology is how, and crucially when, this irrelevant information is filtered out. For example, while reading this article the reader may be surrounded by many potential distractors, such as the noise of a fly buzzing around the room. Given the top-down goal of reading this article, how much information is available to you about the fly? Can the processing of irrelevant stimuli be reduced or even prevented by internal or external factors? The inability to ignore distractors is a common experience in daily life, and though it may at times have minor consequences, such as extending the length of time it takes to read an article, in other situations lapses of attention may have far more serious consequences (e.g., in healthcare situations, or while operating heavy machinery). Perceptual load theory (Lavie, 1995(Lavie, , 2005(Lavie, , 2010Lavie & Tsal, 1994) suggests that the success or failure of selective attention is dependent on the processing demands of the current task. That is, the level of perceptual load as well as any cognitive load will determine the efficiency of distractor rejection. This theory has been hugely influential over the last 20 years,

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Section: Individual Differences Under Loadsupporting

confidence: 69%

Twenty years of load theory—Where are we now, and where should we go next?

2016

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“…Importantly, studies with psychotic patients show deficits in the threat-superiorityeffect towards social stimuli (e.g., Leppänen et al, 2006;Namiki et al, 2007), but not towards non-social information (Pinkham et al, 2014). It is therefore possible that psychotic patients are more sensitive to the interference of irrelevant stimuli with emotional content at high perceptual load conditions, compared to low perceptual load, even with their limited processing resources (Ducato et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contrarily, at low perceptual load, the remaining attentional resources are involuntarily directed to task-irrelevant stimuli, allowing its processing. Ducato et al (2008) have studied the perceptual load effects in schizophrenia using nonemotional stimuli and showed that, compared to controls, patients were more effective at inhibiting interference by task-irrelevant stimuli in the high and medium load, compared to the low load conditions. According to the authors, these effects were not the result of a heightened ability to selectively filter irrelevant information, but instead the result of limited available resources, i.e., a consequence of the higher demands of the task (Ducato et al, 2008;Granholm et al,1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ducato et al (2008) have studied the perceptual load effects in schizophrenia using nonemotional stimuli and showed that, compared to controls, patients were more effective at inhibiting interference by task-irrelevant stimuli in the high and medium load, compared to the low load conditions. According to the authors, these effects were not the result of a heightened ability to selectively filter irrelevant information, but instead the result of limited available resources, i.e., a consequence of the higher demands of the task (Ducato et al, 2008;Granholm et al,1997). Other studies with participants without mental disorders have, however, showed that emotional task-irrelevant stimuli, such as human faces, interfere in the task regardless of its perceptual load (e.g., Lavie et al, 2003;Öhman et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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RETRACTED: The effects of perceptual load in processing emotional facial expression in psychotic disorders

Grave

Soares

Morais

et al. 2017

Psychiatry Research

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A B S T R A C TPsychotic disorders are some of the most severe psychiatric conditions. Patients have difficulties in identifying facial expressions and appear to be highly sensitive to the presence of emotional distractors. Yet, no study has investigated whether perceptual load modulates the interference of emotional distractors. Our goal was to test whether psychotic patients were more sensitive to irrelevant emotional stimulus, even when the task demands a high amount of attentional resources. Twenty-two participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and twenty-two healthy controls, performed a target letter discrimination task with emotional task-irrelevant stimulus (angry, happy and neutral facial expressions). Target-letters were presented among distrator-letters, which could be similar (low perceptual load) or different (high load); participants should discriminate the target-letter and ignore the facial expression. Results showed that patients were more prone to distraction by task-irrelevant stimulus, especially under high load, suggesting difficulties in attention control. Moreover, in psychotic patients, happy faces caused higher interference with the task, whereas neutral and angry faces resulted in less interference. These findings could provide innovative approaches regarding attentional deficits on social contexts in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

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“…It is known that patients with schizophrenia are more sensitive to distraction than healthy controls. 23,35 In our study, it might be that a salient feature in the object (e.g., colour, contrast edges) automatically captured the patients' attention and that they found it difficult to disengage their attention from that feature. Moreover, studies using the antisaccade paradigm have demonstrated that patients show difficulty inhibiting a reflexive saccade.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%