Category‐based attentional capture can be influenced by color‐ and shape‐dimensions independently in the conjunction search task

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Wu ◽  
Xinxuan Wang ◽  
Rami Saab ◽  
Yunpeng Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Conjunction Search

Evidence for Attentional Capture by a Surprising Color Singleton in Visual Search

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 499-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gernot Horstmann
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Target Letter ◽  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Color Singleton ◽  
Conjunction Search ◽  
Feature Search ◽  
Set Size ◽  
And Performance

Three experiments were conducted to investigate whether surprising color singletons capture attention. Participants performed a visual search task in which a target letter had to be detected among distractor letters. Experiments 1 and 2 assessed accuracy as the dependent variable. In Experiment 1, the unannounced presentation of a color singleton 500 ms prior to the letters (and in the same position as the target letter) resulted in better performance than in the preceding conjunction search segment, in which no singleton was presented, and performance was as good in this surprise-singleton trial as in the following feature search segment, in which the singleton always coincided with the target. In contrast, no improvement was observed when the color singleton was presented simultaneously with the letters in Experiment 2, indicating that attentional capture occurred later in the surprise trial than in the feature search segment. In Experiment 3, set size was varied, and reaction time was the dependent variable. Reaction time depended on set size in the conjunction search segment, but not in the surprise trial nor in the feature search segment. The results of the three experiments support the view that surprising color singletons capture attention independently of a corresponding attentional set.

scholarly journals Reading problems and their connection with visual search and attention: The search for a cause continues

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heida Maria Sigurdardottir ◽  
Hilma Ros Omarsdóttir ◽  
Anna Sigridur Valgeirsdottir
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Conjunction Search ◽  
Reading Problems ◽  
Visual Stream ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Reading Abilities ◽  
Gating Mechanism

Attention has been hypothesized to act as a sequential gating mechanism for the orderly processing of letters in words. These same visuo-attentional processes are assumed to partake in some but not all visual search tasks. In the current study, 60 adults with varying degrees of reading abilities, ranging from expert readers to severely impaired dyslexic readers, completed an attentionally demanding visual conjunction search task thought to heavily rely on the dorsal visual stream. A visual feature search task served as an internal control. According to the dorsal view of dyslexia, reading problems should go hand in hand with specific problems in visual conjunction search – particularly elevated conjunction search slopes (time per search item) – which would be interpreted as a problem with visual attention. Results showed that reading problems were associated with slower visual search, especially conjunction search. However, problems with reading were not associated with increased conjunction search slopes but instead with increased conjunction search intercepts, traditionally not interpreted as reflecting attentional processes. Our data are hard to reconcile with hypothesized problems in dyslexia with the serial moving of an attentional spotlight across a visual scene or a page of text.

Intrinsic motivation and attentional capture from gamelike features in a visual search task

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T. Miranda ◽  
Evan M. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Gamelike Features

Contingent attentional capture across multiple feature dimensions in a temporal search task

2016 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 107-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motohiro Ito ◽  
Jun I. Kawahara
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Multiple Feature ◽  
Contingent Attentional Capture ◽  
Temporal Search

scholarly journals Training Top-Down Attention Improves Performance on a Triple-Conjunction Search Task

PLoS ONE ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. e9127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farhan Baluch ◽  
Laurent Itti
Keyword(s):  
Search Task ◽  
Conjunction Search ◽  
Top Down

scholarly journals Dynamics of Feature-based Attentional Selection during Color–Shape Conjunction Search

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1773-1787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeongmi Lee ◽  
Carly J. Leonard ◽  
Steven J. Luck ◽  
Joy J. Geng
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Neurons ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Attentional Selection ◽  
Conjunction Search ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Active Suppression ◽  
Target Shape ◽  
Feature Based

Feature-based attentional selection is accomplished by increasing the gain of sensory neurons encoding target-relevant features while decreasing that of other features. But how do these mechanisms work when targets and distractors share features? We investigated this in a simplified color–shape conjunction search task using ERP components (N2pc, PD, and SPCN) that index lateralized attentional processing. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the presence and frequency of color distractors while holding shape distractors constant. We tested the hypothesis that the color distractor would capture attention, requiring active suppression such that processing of the target can continue. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that color distractors consistently captured attention, as indexed by a significant N2pc, but were reactively suppressed (indexed by PD). Interestingly, when the color distractor was present, target processing was sustained (indexed by SPCN), suggesting that the dynamics of attentional competition involved distractor suppression interlinked with sustained target processing. In Experiment 2, we examined the contribution of shape to the dynamics of attentional competition under similar conditions. In contrast to color distractors, shape distractors did not reliably capture attention, even when the color distractor was very frequent and attending to target shape would be beneficial. Together, these results suggest that target-colored objects are prioritized during color–shape conjunction search, and the ability to select the target is delayed while target-colored distractors are actively suppressed.

scholarly journals Impaired ability in visual-spatial attention in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengyu Tian ◽  
Runzhou Wang ◽  
Hong-Yan Bi
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Developmental Dyslexia ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Chinese Children ◽  
Conjunction Search ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Chinese Reading ◽  
Visual Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Alphabetic Language

Many studies demonstrated that alphabetic language speaking children with developmental dyslexia had a deficit in visual-spatial attention, especially in rapid orienting of the attentional spotlight. Chinese, as a logographic language, is characterized as highly visual-spatial complexity. To date, few studies explored the visual-spatial attention of Chinese children with developmental dyslexia. The present study examined the visual-spatial attention of Chinese children with developmental dyslexia using the visual search task. The results showed that Chinese children with developmental dyslexia had poor performances in conjunction search, indicating that they had a deficit in the rapid orienting of visual-spatial attention. Meanwhile, only the conjunction search was a significant predictor of Chinese characters reading when other variables were controlled. These results indicated that Chinese dyslexic children had a deficit in visual-spatial attention, and visual-spatial attention played a special role in Chinese reading development.

scholarly journals Intense Physical Exercise Reduces Overt Attentional Capture

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 559-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesc Llorens ◽  
Daniel Sanabria ◽  
Florentino Huertas ◽  
Enrique Molina ◽  
Simon Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Physical Exercise ◽  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Abrupt Onset ◽  
Acute Bout ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Activity Condition ◽  
Rest Activity

The abrupt onset of a visual stimulus typically results in overt attentional capture, which can be quantified by saccadic eye movements. Here, we tested whether attentional capture following onset of task-irrelevant visual stimuli (new object) is reduced after a bout of intense physical exercise. A group of participants performed a visual search task in two different activity conditions: rest, without any prior effort, and effort, immediately after an acute bout of intense exercise. The results showed that participants exhibited (1) slower reaction time of the first saccade toward the target when a new object was simultaneously presented in the visual field, but only in the rest activity condition, and (2) more saccades to the new object in the rest activity condition than in the effort activity condition. We suggest that immediately after an acute bout of effort, participants improved their ability to inhibit irrelevant (distracting) stimuli.

scholarly journals Acquisition and Use of ‘Priors’ in Autism: Typical in Deciding Where to Look, Atypical in Deciding What Is There

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fredrik Allenmark ◽  
Zhuanghua Shi ◽  
Rasmus L. Pistorius ◽  
Laura A. Theisinger ◽  
Nikolaos Koutsouleris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Attention Allocation ◽  
Perceptual Decision Making ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Subsequent Target

AbstractIndividuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are thought to under-rely on prior knowledge in perceptual decision-making. This study examined whether this applies to decisions of attention allocation, of relevance for ‘predictive-coding’ accounts of ASD. In a visual search task, a salient but task-irrelevant distractor appeared with higher probability in one display half. Individuals with ASD learned to avoid ‘attentional capture’ by distractors in the probable region as effectively as control participants—indicating typical priors for deploying attention. However, capture by a ‘surprising’ distractor at an unlikely location led to greatly slowed identification of a subsequent target at that location—indicating that individuals with ASD attempt to control surprise (unexpected attentional capture) by over-regulating parameters in post-selective decision-making.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document