A look into how inhibition and stress influence visual orienting

Selective attention allows individuals to prioritize relevant stimuli while filtering out distractions. It consists of visual orienting, which shifts attention to a target, and inhibition, which suppresses irrelevant stimuli. The Posner paradigm (Posner, 1980) was one of the first tasks to measure both processes, while the Infant Orienting With Attention task (IOWA; Ross-Sheehy et al., 2015) was developed for infants. This study examines whether the IOWA task reliably measures visual orienting in adults, thereby bridging the gap between infant and adult research. Additionally, it explores how perceived stress influences visual orienting and inhibition. Results showed similar reaction time trends between the IOWA (adult) and Posner task, as well as accuracy trends between the IOWA (adult) and IOWA (infant). Stress was not significantly correlated with reaction time or accuracy, though cue condition significantly affected both measures. Findings supported the IOWA task’s validity for measuring orienting in adults.