Previous studies have shown that the reduction of temporal uncertainty facilitates target selection in visual search. We investigated whether this beneficial effect is caused by an effect on stimulus-driven processes or on goal-driven processes in spatial selection. To discriminate between these processes, we employed a visual search task in which participants searched for a shape target while ignoring a color singleton distractor. As an index of stimulus-driven processes, we measured the N2pc evoked by the singleton distractor (ND). As indices of goal-driven processes, we measured the N2pc evoked by the target (NT) and the distractor positivity (PD) evoked by the singleton distractor, respectively. We observed that reducing temporal uncertainty modulated the amplitude of ND and the onset latency of the NT, but did not modulate the amplitude of the PD. These results are consistent with the view that a reduction of temporal uncertainty influences non-selective, stimulus-driven processes in spatial selection.

中文翻译：

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减少时间不确定性有助于空间选择中的刺激驱动过程

先前的研究表明，时间不确定性的减少有助于视觉搜索中的目标选择。我们调查了这种有益效果是否是由对空间选择中的刺激驱动过程或目标驱动过程的影响引起的。为了区分这些过程，我们采用了视觉搜索任务，参与者在其中搜索形状目标，同时忽略颜色单一干扰项。作为刺激驱动过程的指标，我们测量了由单例干扰器 (ND) 引起的 N2pc。作为目标驱动过程的指标，我们分别测量了由目标 (NT) 引起的 N2pc 和由单一干扰项引起的干扰项正性 (PD)。我们观察到，减少时间不确定性会调节 ND 的幅度和 NT 的发作潜伏期，但没有调制 PD 的幅度。这些结果与以下观点一致，即时间不确定性的减少会影响空间选择中的非选择性、刺激驱动过程。