Stress affects the selection of relevant from irrelevant stimuli.

Two experiments were used to examine the effects of stress on latent inhibition (LI; poorer learning with a previously exposed irrelevant stimulus rather than a novel stimulus). In Experiment 1, stress was induced in college students by threatening participants' self-esteem with a difficult number series completion test that was related to intelligence. In Experiment 2, the participants were job seekers who were either informed or not that the LI test was part of the selection process. In both experiments, LI was attenuated in high- as compared with low-stressed participants. The results suggest that stress and/or anxiety impairs the inhibition of irrelevant-preexposed stimuli. Implications for understanding the impaired selective attentional processes in schizophrenia and schizotypy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are high-schizotypal normal participants distractible or limited in attentional resources? A study of latent inhibition as a function of masking task load and schizotypy level

Two experiments with normal participants examined the effects of masking and masking task load on latent inhibition (LI, poorer learning for a previously exposed irrelevant stimulus than for a novel stimulus) as a function of level of schizotypality. In Experiment 1, a masking task was needed to produce LI. In Experiment 2, with low load, LI was present in low- but not high-schizotypal participants. In high load, LI was abolished in low-schizotypal participants, but only approached significance in high-schizotypal participants. The data support a distraction- rather than a resource-limitation model of attentional dysfunction in high-schizotypal normal participants. In addition, the data indicate that obtaining LI requires that some attention be initially allocated to the preexposed stimulus and then reduced. Implications of the model for understanding attentional dysfunction in schizophrenia are discussed.     

Are high-schizotypal normal participants distractible or limited in attentional resources? A study of latent inhibition as function of masking task load and schizotypy level.

Two experiments with normal participants examined the effects of masking and masking task load on latent inhibition (LI, poorer learning for a previously exposed irrelevant stimulus than for a novel stimulus) as a function of level of schizotypality. In Experiment 1, a masking task was needed to produce LI. In Experiment 2, with low load, LI was present in low- but not high-schizotypal participants. In high load, LI was abolished in low-schizotypal participants, but only approached significance in high-schizotypal participants. The data support a distraction- rather than a resource-limitation model of attentional dysfunction in high-schizotypal normal participants. In addition, the data indicate that obtaining LI requires that some attention be initially allocated to the preexposed stimulus and then reduced. Implications of the model for understanding attentional dysfunction in schizophrenia are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)