Motor Knowledge Modulates Attentional Processing during Action Judgment

Several studies have revealed the role of motor experience when humans have to judge human actions. However, the possible influence of motor knowledge on attention processes has been neglected. This study used a flanker paradigm (Eriksen and Eriksen 1974) to analyze the attention responses of male and female participants during the judgment of running movements. Three running actions appeared simultaneously on a computer screen, with the target in the center and the flankers in the periphery. The target and flankers could be compatible or incompatible concerning both the direction of the movement and the sex of the runner. Moreover, flankers were presented upright or upside-down. The results indicate that the distracting effect of the flankers was different for male and female participants. Whereas direction-incompatible flankers systematically disturbed the female participants’ performance, regardless of the sex and the orientation of the flanker, male participants were only distracted when the flankers were upright males. This finding offers new directions to explain sex differences in the judgment of human action.