Singleton effect decreases under time pressure: An fNIRS study
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Updated: Jul 19, 2025

Conducting Hyperscanning Experiments with Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy
Published on: January 19, 2019
Yujie Li1, Susu Wang1, Qianqian Shan1
1School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, 152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430079, China; Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, 152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430079, China.
Abstract:
Time pressure affects multiple cognitive processes but how it affects attention capture remains unclear. Two experiments were carried out in the present study to assess whether time pressure prevents attention from capturing by salient distractors and explore the underlying neural mechanisms using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The results of behavioral tests showed that the singleton effect decreased (Experiment 2) or even disappeared (Experiment 1) when the subject was under time pressure. Neuroimaging data showed that under time pressure, a salient distractor elicited greater activation in the left middle frontal gyrus/inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral superior parietal lobule, brain areas that are thought to be involved in cognitive inhibition and control of spatial attentional shifts. These findings suggest that the reduction or disappearance of the singleton effect under time pressure results from enhanced inhibition of and/or accelerated disengagement from salient distractors.
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