Abstract
A core prediction of models of social-cognitive functioning is that attention is preferentially tuned to self-relevant material. Surprisingly, however, evidence in support of this viewpoint is scant. Remedying this situation, here we demonstrated that self-relevance influences the distribution of attentional resources during decisional processing. In a flanker task (N = 60), participants reported if to-be-judged stimuli either denoted, or were owned by, the self or a friend. A consistent pattern of results emerged across both judgment tasks. Whereas the identification of friend-related targets was speeded when the items were flanked by compatible compared with incompatible flankers, responses to self-related targets were resistant to flanker interference. Probing the origin of these effects, a further computational analysis (i.e., Shrinking Spotlight Diffusion Model analysis) confirmed that self-relevance impacted the focusing of attention during decision-making. These findings highlight how self-relevance modulates attentional processing.
DOI
10.3758/s13423-021-01964-3
Publication Date
2021-12-01
Publication Title
Psychonomic Bulletin and Review
Volume
28
Issue
6
Publisher
Springer
ISSN
1531-5320
Embargo Period
2024-11-22
First Page
1915
Last Page
1922
Recommended Citation
Golubickis, M., & Macrae, C. (2021) 'That’s me in the spotlight: Self-relevance modulates attentional breadth', Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 28(6), pp. 1915-1922. Springer: Available at: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-021-01964-3
