Testing individual differences in the preparation effect

How do people prepare for the appearance of upcoming distractors? According to the preparation effect, observers do not inhibit distractors before their appearance, rather they are more alert at those moments. In two large, online, pre-registered studies, we tested possible individual differences in the magnitude of the preparation effect. Specifically, we examined whether the preparation effect is related to working memory capacity and/or to the ability to filter out irrelevant information. The results indicated that the magnitude of the preparation effect did not correlate with these factors. These results highlight the rigidity of the preparation effect that does not seem to be related to working memory capacity or selective attention abilities. Moreover, that increased preparation does not result in less (or more) interference from upcoming distractor display, indicates that the preparation effect does not influence distractor rejection and further supports a mandatory 'process-all mechanism' as the underlying mechanism of the effect.