Attention and the Processing of Emotional Words and Names

Harris, Christine R.; Pashler, Harold · 2004 · Psychological Science

DOI: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.01503005.x

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Summary

This study investigates whether high-priority stimuli, specifically a person’s own name or emotionally charged words, automatically capture attention in a way that challenges limited-capacity theories of perceptual processing. Previous research produced conflicting results: some studies suggested these stimuli "pop out" regardless of attentional load, supporting late-selection theories, while others found no such effect. Harris and Pashler aimed to resolve this discrepancy by examining how the intrusion effect of these stimuli varies with exposure frequency and visual processing load. The researchers conducted three experiments using a digit-parity judgment task. Subjects viewed two digits flanking a central word and judged whether the digits had the same parity (odd/even), ignoring the word. In Experiment 1, the subject’s own name was presented either infrequently (on two trials) or frequently (on half the trials). Experiment 2 replicated this design using emotionally charged words instead of names. Experiment 3 manipulated display load by presenting either six simultaneous distractor words or one word alongside five non-word rectangles, with the subject’s name appearing among them. Reaction times (RTs) for the digit task served as the primary measure of attentional capture. The results demonstrated that high-priority stimuli only disrupted performance under specific conditions. In Experiments 1 and 2, the first presentation of a subject’s name or an emotional word caused a significant, transient slowing of RTs (an "M-shaped" pattern), indicating attentional capture. However, this effect habituated rapidly; when these stimuli appeared frequently in subsequent trials, the RT slowing disappeared entirely. Furthermore, Experiment 3 revealed that the intrusion effect was eliminated when the subject’s name was embedded among five other distractor words. In contrast, when the name was presented with only one other word (and five non-lexical rectangles), the RT slowing persisted. These findings suggest that high-priority stimuli do not possess a special, capacity-free status that allows them to bypass perceptual limits. Instead, their ability to capture attention depends on available processing resources. The transient disruption observed on first exposure likely reflects a momentary surprise reaction rather than automatic semantic processing. The elimination of the effect under high display loads supports early-selection theories, which posit that perceptual analysis is subject to capacity limitations. The authors conclude that while names and emotional words can grab attention when perceptual demands are low, they do not "pop out" in the strict sense of being processed independently of attentional resources.

Key finding

The attentional capture effect caused by a person's own name or emotionally charged words is transient and disappears when the stimuli are presented frequently or when perceptual load is increased by additional distractors.

Methodology

lab_experiment

Sample size: 389

Provenance

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Topics

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• attention selective divided