Attention

The sexual distractor task is designed to measure sexual interest indirectly based on performance and eye-movements recorded during a mental rotation task and the simultaneous presentation of neutral and sexually (non-)preferred distractors. However, current empirical evidence suggests low distractor processing and small interference effects of sexually preferred distractors used as an indicator of sexual interest. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the level of distractor processing and hence interference effects elicited by sexually preferred distractors increase systematically due to an increased load of higher cognitive functions (dual-task coordination). Therefore, the original version of the sexual distractor task was modified by implementing a randomized trial-by-trial change between the mental rotation task and an additional evaluation task leading to an increased dual-task coordination load. The level of distractor processing and interference effects of sexually preferred distractors were compared between the original (single-task) and the modified version (dual-task) among N = 53 healthy male participants. In the modified version, the level of distractor processing was significantly higher compared to the original version. Nevertheless, there was no difference regarding interference effects of sexually preferred distractors indicating sexual interest. Exploratory analysis suggests a further investigation of trials immediately preceded by a task switch.

Recent studies on individual differences in multitasking demonstrated that individuals differ considerably to what extent they voluntarily prefer to separate or interleave the performance of two tasks. These preferred response strategies (i.e., so-called blocking, switching or response grouping) can be identified in the free concurrent dual-tasking (FCDT) paradigm, where individuals may choose the order of their responses to two independent task threads. Previous reports indicated that the individually preferred strategy is highly stable, even when the interleaved performance of two tasks is facilitated by reduced task similarity resulting in improved dual-task performance. Here, we examined whether this stability of individual preferences for response strategies also holds true for task characteristics that deteriorate rather than facilitate the interleaved performance of tasks. For this purpose, we tested 57 participants under two conditions of varying risk of between-task crosstalk in the FCDT paradigm. In the condition of low risk of crosstalk, participants performed two tasks concurrently involving univalent stimuli (i.e., classified digits and letters). The condition of high risk of crosstalk included bivalent stimuli (i.e., two letter classification tasks with different rules). Despite the increased risk of interference between tasks, almost all individuals preferred the same strategy of response organization in the high crosstalk compared to the low crosstalk condition, even though clear detrimental effects on the efficiency of switching and response grouping strategies in both crosstalk conditions were found. The study, thus, underlines the stability of individual preferences for specific strategies of response organization independent of task characteristics.

Encoding of information during free viewing is determined by the scanning pattern of the eye. The task being performed is a crucial determinant of the saccade plan. We examined neural activity related to saccade planning during a visual search and memorization task. To capture the effect of task demands on the saccade plan, we compared EEG amplitudes between first fixations and refixations for task-relevant (targets) and task-irrelevant (distractors) items. In this task, target and distractor refixations are driven by different working memory processes. While target refixations are made for rehearsal of target items, distractor refixations are due to forgetting of distractor locations. We hypothesized that these differences in working memory processes to affect preparation of the following saccade. To test this, we assessed saccade related potentials (SRPs) in the interval preceding the saccade away from a fixation or refixation. SRP amplitudes were higher for first fixations than refixations in the occipital region only for task-relevant items. No difference was found for task-irrelevant items. This finding shows that both task-relevance and working memory contents affect the saccade plan.