表徵於選擇的角色

The Roles of Representations in Selection

台灣心理學界以探討廣度開啟了注意力的相關研究。隨著實驗認知研究人力的投入，研究議題漸趨多元：涉及選擇機制在知覺、記憶及決策歷程裡的運作。本文以〈表徵於選擇的角色〉為主題來回顧台灣認知心理學領域的相關研究。回顧的二大單元分別為表徵特性對選擇的影響以及表徵與上而下控制的互動。每一單元裡又各分三個小議題：表徵情緒性對選擇注意力的影響、工作記憶表徵對選擇注意力的影響、表徵相對強度對知覺決策的影響；選擇注意力與視覺工作記憶的互動、表徵競爭與抑制機制的運作及選擇注意力的瓶頸所在。這些子議題的結果顯示，選擇機制乃是因認知資源的有限，必須根據當下刺激表徵的特性以及行為目標，同時由下而上的競爭以及上而下控制二者彈性涉入影響行為。選擇以連續的方式發生在不同層次的神經機制。因此，研究者需以系統性的理論研究釐清不同情境脈絡裡選擇機制的運作。未來研究應可結合神經科學的技術，系統性的釐清選擇機制如何因應個別差異、情境脈絡及作業所需的認知處理層次而彈性運作。亦可進一步的釐清選擇注意力、工作記憶及意識三者的關連。

Attention research in Taiwan began with a study on attention breadth. As a growing number of cognitive psychologists contribute to the field over the past decades, the research topics have become diversified. Researchers in Taiwan have begun studying the mechanisms of selection in perception, memory, and decision processes. On the roles of representations in selection, we reviewed Taiwan's research in two domains: the influence of representation characteristics on selection, and the interaction between representations and top-down control. For the first domain, we reviewed three topics: the impact of emotional representation on selective attention, the influence of working memory representation on selective attention, and the effect of relative feature strength on the selection for perceptual decision. For the second domain, we reviewed three topics: the interaction between selective attention and visual working memory, representation competition and inhibition, and the locus of selective attention. Evidence from these studies showed that selection dynamically and flexibly operates according to the characteristics of stimulus representations that elicit bottom-up competition and behavior goals that activate top-down control under the constraint of resource limitation. Selection occurs continuously at multiple levels in multiple mechanisms. Thus, theoretical research should systematically investigate the contingency that selection operates in various contexts. Future research may integrate neuroscience methodology to investigate how selection operates as a function of individual differences, experimental contexts, and the task demand on cognitive processes. Future research may also uncover interlinks among selective attention, working memory, and consciousness.