Negative priming is stronger for task-relevant dimensions: Evidence of flexibility in the selective ignoring of distractor information.

The finding that in selective attention tasks responses to previously ignored stimuli are usually retarded is known as negative priming (NP). In previous studies it has been suggested that NP can depend on behavioural goals--that is, NP was observed only for task-relevant object dimensions. We extend these findings with two experiments demonstrating that stronger NP can be observed for task-relevant dimensions than for task-irrelevant dimensions (a) even if participants' tasks vary blockwise within an experiment and (b) if behavioural goals vary from trial to trial. These results suggest that selective NP is a much more flexible process than previously assumed.