Sussex Attention Lab
Publications & Resources
Publications
2026
Attention and Physiological Responses to Task-Irrelevant Sounds in Misophonia.
Rinaldi, L. J., Agbude, R., Andermane, N., Makowski, D., Forster, S., Simner, J., & Ward, J. (2026). Attention and physiological responses to task-irrelevant sounds in misophonia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 48(3), 1–15.
2024
Sensory Representations in the Primary Visual Cortex are not Sufficient for Subjective Imagery.
Cabbai, G., Racey, C., Simner, J., Dance, C., Ward, J., Forster, S. (2024) Sensory representations in primary visual cortex are not sufficient for subjective imagery. Current Biology, 34, 5073–5082.
Cabbai, G., Racey, C., Simner, J., Dance, C., Ward, J., Forster, S. (2024). Sensory representations in primary visual cortex are not sufficient for subjective imagery. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Creativity on Tap? The Effect of Creativity Anxiety Under Evaluative Pressure.
Muir, A.B., Tribe, B., Forster, S. (2024) Creativity on tap? The effect of creativity anxiety under evaluative pressure. Creativity Research Journal, 1-10.
Investigating Relationships between Trait Visual Imagery and Phenomenological Control: the role of Context Effects.
Cabbai, G., Dance, C., Dienes, Z., Simner, J., Forster, S., Lush, P. (2024) Investigating relationships between trait visual imagery and phenomenological control: the role of context effects. Collabra: Psychology, 10(1).
2023
Mental Imagery and Visual Attentional Templates: a Dissociation.
Cabbai, G., Brown, C.R.H., Dance, C., Simner, J., Forster, S. (2023). Mental imagery and visual attentional templates: a dissociation. Cortex, 169:259-278.
Irrelevant Sights and Sounds Require Spatial Suppression: ERP Evidence.
Lunn, J., Berggren, N., Ward, J., & Forster, S. (2023). Irrelevant sights and sounds require spatial suppression: ERP evidence. Psychophysiology, e14181.
Lapses in the Person Radar: ADHD Symptoms Predict Difficulty in Interpersonal Distancing.
Brown, C. R., & Forster, S. (2022). Lapses in the person radar: ADHD symptoms predict difficulty in interpersonal distancing. Journal of Attention Disorders, 10870547221149200.
2021
Intact Goal-Driven Attentional Capture in Autistic Adults.
Husain, L., Berggren, N., Remington, A., & Forster, S. (2021). Intact Goal-Driven Attentional Capture in Autistic Adults. Journal of Cognition, 4(1).
2020
Testing a Load Theory Framework for Food-Related Cognition.
Morris, J., Yeomans, M. R., & Forster, S. (2020). Testing a load theory framework for food-related cognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 149(12), 2406–2421.
Ingested but not Perceived: Response to Satiety Cues Disrupted by Perceptual Load.
Morris, J., Thanh Vi, C., Obrist, M., Forster, S. & Yeomans, M. R.. (2020). Ingested but not perceived: response to satiety cues disrupted by perceptual load. Appetite, p.104813.
A High Perceptual Load Task Reduces Thoughts About Chocolate, Even When Hungry.
Morris, J., Ngai, M. Y. K., Yeomans, M. R., & Forster, S. (2020). A high perceptual load task reduces thoughts about chocolate, even while hungry. Appetite, p.104694.
Not Looking for Any Trouble? Purely Affective Attentional Settings Do Not Induce Goal-Driven Attentional Capture.
Brown, C. R., Berggren, N., & Forster, S. (2020). Not Looking for Any Trouble? Purely Affective Attentional Settings Do Not Induce Goal-Driven Attentional Capture. Attention, Perception and Psychophysics. 82(3), 1150-1165.
Testing a Goal-Driven Account of Involuntary Attentional Capture by Threat.
Brown, C. R., Berggren, N., & Forster, S. (2020). Testing a goal-driven account of involuntary attentional capture by threat. Emotion. 20(4), 572–589.
2019
Multisensory Enhancement of Attention Depends on Whether you are Already Paying Attention.
Lunn, J., Sjoblom, A., Ward, J., Soto-Faraco, S., & Forster, S. (2019). Multisensory enhancement of attention depends on whether you are already paying attention. Cognition, 187, 38-49.
2018
"What Smell?" Temporarily Loading Attention Induces a Prolonged Loss of Olfactory Awareness.
Forster, S., Spence, C. (2018). “What smell?” Temporarily loading visual attention induces a prolonged loss of olfactory awareness. Psychological Science. 29(10), p.1642-1652.
Goal-Driven Attentional Bias Towards Appetitive and Aversive Smoking-Related Cues in Nicotine Dependent Smokers.
Brown, C.R.H., Forster, S., Duka, T. (2018). Goal-driven attentional bias towards appetitive and aversive smoking-related cues in nicotine dependent smokers. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 190, p.209-215.
Attentional Capture by Alcohol Related Stimuli may be Activated Involuntarily by Top-Down Search Goals.
Brown, C.R.H., Duka, T., Forster, S. (2018). Attentional capture by alcohol related stimuli may be activated involuntarily by top-down search goals. Psychopharmacology. In Press. doi: 10.1007/s00213-018-4906-8.
2017
Putting Attention in the Spotlight: the Influence of APOE genotype on Visual Search in Mid Adulthood.
Lancaster, Claire, Forster, Sophie, Tabet, Naji and Rusted, Jennifer (2017) Putting attention in the spotlight: the influence of APOE genotype on visual search in mid adulthood. Behavioural Brain Research, 334. pp. 97-104. ISSN 0166-4328.
Prefrontal Cortex Stimulation Does Not Affect Emotional Bias, but May Slow Emotion Identification.
Nord, Camilla L, Forster, Sophie, Halahakoon, D. Chamith, Penton-Voak, Ian S, Munafò, Marcus R and Roiser, Jonathan P (2017) Prefrontal cortex stimulation does not affect emotional bias, but may slow emotion identification. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12 (5). pp. 839-847. ISSN 1749-5016.
2016
Prefrontal Cortex Stimulation Does Not Affect Emotional Bias, but May Slow Emotion Identification.
Forster, Sophie and Lavie, Nilli (2016) Establishing the attention-distractibility trait. Psychological Science, 27 (2). pp. 203-212. ISSN 1467-9280.
2015
Unraveling the Anxious Mind: Anxiety, Worry and Frontal Engagement in Sustained Attention Versus Off-Task Processing.
Forster, S, Nunez Elizalde, A O, Castle, E and Bishop, S J (2015) Unraveling the anxious mind: anxiety, worry, and frontal engagement in sustained attention versus off-task processing. Cerebral Cortex, 25 (3). pp. 609-618. ISSN 1047-3211.
2014
Moderate Threat Causes Longer Lasting Disruption to Processing in Anxious Individuals.
Forster, Sophie, Nunez-Elizalde, Anwar O, Castle, Elizabeth and Bishop, Sonia J (2014) Moderate threat causes longer lasting disruption to processing in anxious individuals. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8. p. 626. ISSN 1662-5161.
Resting State Correlates of Subdimensions of Anxious Affect.
Bijsterbosch, Janine, Smith, Stephen, Forster, Sophie, John, Oliver P and Bishop, Sonia J (2014) Resting state correlates of subdimensions of anxious affect. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 26 (4). p. 914-926. ISSN 0898-929X.
Distracted by Your Mind? Individual Differences in Distractibility Predict Mind Wandering.
Forster, Sophie and Lavie, Nilli (2014) Distracted by your mind? Individual differences in distractibility predict mind wandering. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40 (1). pp. 251-260. ISSN 0278-7393.
Plugging the Attention Deficit: Perceptual Load Counters Increased Distraction in ADHD.
Forster, Sophie, Robertson, David J, Jennings, Alistair, Asherson, Philip and Lavie, Nilli (2014) Plugging the attention deficit: perceptual load counters increased distraction in ADHD. Neuropsychology, 28 (1). pp. 91-97. ISSN 0894-4105.
2013
Distraction and Mind-Wandering Under Load.
Forster, Sophie (2013) Distraction and mind-wandering under load. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. p. 283. ISSN 1664-1078.
2011
Entirely Irrelevant Distractors Can Capture and Captivate Attention.
Forster, Sophie and Lavie, Nilli (2011) Entirely irrelevant distractors can capture and captivate attention. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18 (6). pp. 1064-1070. ISSN 1531-5320.
2009
Harnessing the Wandering Mind: The Role of Perceptual Load.
Forster, Sophie and Lavie, Nilli (2009) Harnessing the wandering mind: the role of perceptual load. Cognition, 111 (3). pp. 345-355. ISSN 0010-0277.
2008
Failures to Ignore Entirely Irrelevant Distractors: The Role of Load.
Forster, Sophie and Lavie, Nilli (2008) Failures to ignore entirely irrelevant distractors: the role of load. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 14 (1). pp. 73-83. ISSN 1076-898X.
Attentional Capture by Entirely Irrelevant Distractors.
Forster, Sophie and Lavie, Nilli (2008) Attentional capture by entirely irrelevant distractors. Visual Cognition, 16 (2-3). pp. 200-214. ISSN 1350-6285.
2007
High Perceptual Load Makes Everybody Equal: Eliminating Individual Differences in Distractibility with Load.
Forster, Sophie and Lavie, Nilli (2007) High perceptual load makes everybody equal: eliminating individual differences in distractibility with load. Psychological Science, 18 (5). pp. 377-381. ISSN 0956-7976.
Books and Book sections
2013
Trait Anxiety, Neuroticism and the Brain Basis of Vulnerability to Affective Disorder.
Bishop, Sonia and Forster, Sophie (2013) Trait anxiety, neuroticism and the brain basis of vulnerability to affective disorder. In: Armony, Jorge and Vuilleumier, Patrik (eds.) The Cambridge handbook of human affective neuroscience. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107001114