Negative Priming in a Spatial Localization Task: Feature Mismatching and Distractor Inhibition

Negative priming has recently been demonstrated in tasks requiring spatial localization (S. P. Tipper, J. C. Brehaut, & J. Driver, 1990), supporting the notion that distractors are actively inhibited during selection. However, it has since been argued that this effect is caused by the appearance of mismatching identities at a single location (J. Park & N. Kanwisher, 1994). The present studies show that negative priming in a spatial localization task can occur when the ignored distractor and subsequent target are identical. However, feature mismatches can also lead to negative priming. The argument is made that distractor inhibition and implicit retrieval of previously presented items together provide a better account of efficient sequential selective behavior than does either process alone.