Attention and the detection of signals：（注意,信号的检测）.pdfVIP

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 1980, Vol. 109, No. 2, 160-174 Attention and the Detection of Signals Michael I. Posner, Charles R. R. Snyder, and Brian J. Davidson University of Oregon SUMMARY Detection of a visual signal requires information to reach a system capable of eliciting arbitrary responses required by the experimenter. Detection latencies are reduced when subjects receive a cue that indicates where in the visual field the signal will occur. This shift in efficiency appears to be due to an alignment (orient- ing) of the central attentional system with the pathways to be activated by the visual input . It would also be possible to describe these results as being due to a reduced criterion at the expected target position . However, this description ignores impor- tant constraints about the way in which expectancy improves performance . First, when subjects are cued on each trial, they show stronger expectancy effects than when a probable position is held constant for a block, indicating the active nature of the expectancy. Second, while information on spatial position improves per- formance, information on the form of the stimulus does not. Third, expectancy may lead to improvements in lat