关键词: 时间压力, 选择性注意, 客体注意, 认知过程, 中介作用

Abstract: Selective attention enables prioritization of task-relevant information in complex environments, with object-based and space-based attention representing distinct processing modes. While chronic and acute time pressure are established influencers of higher-order cognition (e.g., decision-making), their effects on early attentional selection remain unclear. Theoretical models propose that time pressure narrows attentional scope, potentially impairing holistic object processing while sparing spatial orienting. This study tested three hypotheses: acute time pressure selectively disrupts object-based attention advantages, attentional scope mediates this disruption, and chronic time pressure exhibits negligible effects on early attentional selection. Three experiments examined these hypotheses across 275 university participants. Experiment 1a assessed chronic time pressure using a standardized scale, categorizing participants into high/low chronic pressure groups. All completed the two-rectangle cueing paradigm measuring object-based and space-based attention. Experiment 1b manipulated acute time pressure via response deadlines and performance feedback during the two-rectangle paradigm, with time thresholds derived from control-group reaction times. Experiment 2 integrated attentional scope measurement using the divided attention task before the two-rectangle paradigm under acute pressure. All experiments recorded reaction times and accuracy. Experiment 1a revealed that chronic time pressure did not significantly affect either object-based or space-based attention. Experiment 1b demonstrated that acute time pressure substantially reduced the object-based attentional advantage while leaving space-based attention intact. Experiment 2 confirmed these results and identified a critical mediating mechanism: acute time pressure significantly narrowed participants’ attentional scope, which served as a full mediator in the relationship between acute time pressure the and object-based attention. Correlational analyses further revealed a strong negative relationship between acute time pressure and attentional scope, and a positive linkage between attentional scope and object-based attention. The results suggest that acute time pressure uniquely compromises object-based attention through narrowed attentional scope, whereas chronic time pressure and spatial attention remain resilient. These findings are consistent with attentional focus models in early visual processing and delineate pressure-type-specific pathways. Practically, optimizing performance in time-sensitive professions requires interventions mitigating attentional narrowing during acute time pressure. Training programs emphasizing holistic object processing under pressure may enhance real-world cognitive efficiency in high-stakes environments.

Key words: time pressure, selective attention, object-based attention, cognitive process, mediating effect