{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T15:38:11Z","timestamp":1786117091104,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785974400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Youth Fund Project of Humanities and Social Science Research of the Ministry of Education of China","award":["22YJCZH253"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22YJCZH253"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Whether the attentional capture mechanism of self-relevant information acting as non-target processing is entirely automatic or can be modulated by top-down goal setting remains inconclusive. Additionally, research has found that the attentional window modulates cognitive processing. Based on this, the present study employs a color-identity association paradigm and a modified spatial cueing paradigm to investigate the attentional capture mechanism (including attentional orienting and disengagement) of self-relevant information during non-target processing, as well as the moderating effect of the attentional window, through three experiments. Under the small attentional window condition, when self-relevant information was target-relevant (Experiment 1), participants showed faster attentional orienting and delayed disengagement toward self-relevant information compared to stranger information. When self-relevant information was target-irrelevant (Experiment 2), there were no significant differences in attentional orienting or disengagement between self-relevant and stranger information. Under the large attentional window condition, when self-relevant information was target-irrelevant (Experiment 3), participants exhibited faster attentional orienting and delayed disengagement toward self-relevant information compared to stranger information. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that attentional capture during non-target processing of self-relevant information is not entirely automatic but is modulated by top-down goal setting. The findings from Experiments 2 and 3 indicate that attentional window size regulates the mechanisms of attentional orienting and disengagement for self-relevant information during non-target processing. Collectively, these results reveal that although self-relevant information possesses marked salience, its processing remains subject to modulation by top-down goal setting. Furthermore, external factors such as attentional window size influence individual processing patterns of self-relevant information, demonstrating cognitive flexibility in self-relevant processing. This reflects individuals\u2019 capacity for adaptive adjustments to environmental changes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16081354","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T13:03:27Z","timestamp":1786021407000},"page":"1354","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Attentional Orientation and Disengagement Mechanisms in Non-Target Processing of Self-Related Information and the Modulating Effect of Attentional Window"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8774-8964","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pengcheng","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, School of Education, Zhejiang International Studies University, Hangzhou 310023, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhiyi","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, School of Education, Zhejiang International Studies University, Hangzhou 310023, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Boyan","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiangping","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"770","DOI":"10.1002\/ejsp.1882","article-title":"I, me, mine: Automatic attentional capture by self-related 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