The learned inattention effect in a category learning task with semantic connection between features

Abstract

The phenomenon when individuals continue to ignore information previously identified as irrelevant, even after it becomes relevant, is known as the learned inattention effect. Traditionally, this effect in category learning has been interpreted as a consequence of selective attention. In the present study, we investigated this effect using verbal material that featured semantic connections between category features, in contrast to prior studies that employed perceptual material lacking such connections. We developed a modified version of the task proposed by Blanco et al. (2023), introducing an unexpected shift for participants between relevant and irrelevant category features during the learning phase. The experiment involved two groups: one trained on material with semantic connections between relevant and irrelevant features, and the other on material without such connections. We hypothesized that the group exposed to semantically related features would show a reduced learned inattention effect due to the facilitation provided by semantic knowledge. Additionally, we proposed that the presence of semantic connections would not alter the pattern of attention allocation, which would remain selective rather than becoming more distributed. The results supported our hypotheses: the presence of semantic connections attenuated the learned inattention effect, while attention distribution remained selective.