工作记忆内容对视觉注意的自动引导作用可能存在制约条件,PAN和SOTO认为基于工作记忆内容的视觉注意捕获能够受到中央箭头线索的调节.然而,由于箭头线索所引发的注意转移同时包含了主动注意转移和自动注意转移这两种成分,因此还不清楚根据中央箭头线索进行的内源性注意转移是否是中央箭头线索成功阻止记忆匹配项捕获视觉注意的必要条件.本研究发现,中央箭头线索对基于工作记忆内容的注意捕获的调节作用确实是由于主动的内源性注意转移所致,箭头线索所引发的自动的外源性注意转移并不能阻止基于工作记忆内容的视觉注意捕获.这进一步表明基于工作记忆内容的视觉注意捕获不具有非常强的自动性,受主观控制的影响.
Converging evidence has recently accumulated suggesting that the contents of working memory can guide attention to the matching stimuli in the visual field. However, there may be boundary constraints on attentional guidance from the contents of working memory. Recent work by PAN and SOTO demonstrated that content-based working memory-driven capture of visual attention can be modulated by central arrow cueing. However, because attention shifts elicited by central arrow cues contain both voluntary and involuntary components, it is still unclear which of them actually contributes to the modulation of memory-driven attention by arrow cueing. The present study provided evidence that the modulation of memory-driven attention by arrow cueing was indeed via endogenous attention shifts, whereas involuntary shifting of attention triggered by arrow cues cannot override attentional capture by working memory contents. This suggests that content-based working memory-driven capture of visual attention does not show strong automaticity and is subject to voluntary control.