Abstract: Location-based inhibition of return (IOR) refers to a slowed response to a target appearing at a previously attended location. A lot of studies that focus on the factors underline the time course of IOR, why the time course of IOR in discrimination tasks IOR time is later than the time course of IOR in detection tasks is one hot issue. One way to explain this result is re-orienting hypothesis theory. According to this theory, attention is captured by a peripheral cue, which produces facilitation. However, following disengagement of attention from the cued location, attention is inhibited from returning. By this framework, the emergence of IOR at the longer SOA in discrimination tasks could suggest that attention is disengaged from the cued location later in discrimination tasks than in detection tasks. However, a similar time course of IOR is observed for targets appearing as expected which attention has not been disengaged, suggesting that disengagement of attention is not sufficient for IOR. Another way is three hypothetical effects theory, which suggests that the time course of IOR is influenced by spatial orienting benefit, onset detection cost and spatial selection benefit. Peripheral cues trigger a short-lived exogenous spatial orienting of attention, thus improving target perception and/or responses to it, which is called “spatial orienting benefit”. However, a peripheral cue can lead to other effects on the processing of subsequent stimuli appearing at the same location. The cue-target integration process would facilitate processing by helping to select the target location in advance, an effect that is represented as the “spatial selection benefit”. However, the integration of the target within the cue representation would produce a cost in detecting the onset of the target, which is “onset detection cost”. The facilitation or inhibition of responses to peripherally cued targets would result from the sum of the detection cost, spatial benefit, and spatial orienting benefit. Spatial selective benefits would be more pronounced in discrimination tasks whereas the detection costs would be more pronounced in detection tasks. Although three hypothetical effects theory have great advantages to explain the mechanism of the time course of IOR compared to other theories, but when the interference was presented, subject’ attentional control settings influence the time course of IOR. While, interference effect of different perceptual load, especially the low perceptual load was influenced by the cognitive control of subjects. Three hypothetical effects theory should be developed to four hypothetical effects theory, including spatial orienting benefit, onset detection cost, spatial selection benefit and top-to-down tasks need.

Key words: Inhibition of return, Time Course, Three Hypothetical Effect Theory

摘要： 综述了返回抑制(Inhibition of return，IOR)出现时程机制的三因素理论内容，支持该理论的实验证据，以及对理论的质疑和发展。该理论认为空间定向收益、出现检测缺失和空间选择收益三个因素共同决定了IOR出现的时程及机制。研究者通过操控任务加工水平或将实验范式相结合的方式对三因素理论提出了质疑和发展。许多关键问题如三个因素存在的认知神经科学证据、出现检测缺失和空间选择收益发挥作用的方式等是未来研究的重点和方向。

关键词: 返回抑制, 时程, 三因素理论