The categorical relational process mechanism in enactment learning: effects of divided attention and categorical cues

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of divided attention and the notification of categorical cues on the categorical relational processing of an enactment paradigm. In this study, we conducted a 3 (encoding condition: verbal tasks vs. experimenter-performed tasks vs. subject-performed tasks) × 2 (attention state: full attention vs. divided attention) × 2 (cue notification condition: with notification vs. without notification) mixed design to explore these questions. Our data analysis showed that the categorical relational processing of subject-performed tasks was not significantly disrupted by divided attention regardless of whether categorical cues were provided. Additionally, categorical cues did not help effectively resist the reduction effects of divided attention in experimenter-performed tasks and verbal tasks. These findings suggest that subject-performed tasks mainly relied on automatic categorical relational encoding processes, minimally disrupted by divided attention.