Cross-trial priming of element positions in visual pop-out search is dependent on stimulus arrangement.
Two experiments examined cross-trial positional priming (V. Maljkovic & K. Nakayama, 1994, 1996, 2000) in visual pop-out search. Experiment 1 used regularly arranged target and distractor displays, as in previous studies. Reaction times were expedited when the target appeared at a previous target location (facilitation relative to neutral baseline) and slowed when the target appeared at a previous distractor location (inhibition). In contrast to facilitation, inhibition emerged only after extended practice. Experiment 2 revealed reduced facilitatory and no inhibitory priming when the elements' spatial arrangement was made irregular, indicating that positional--in particular, inhibitory--priming critically depends on the configuration of the display elements across sequences of trials. These results are discussed with respect to the role of the context for cross-trial priming in visual pop-out search.
Department Psychologie, Lehrstuhl fur Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, Munchen, Germany. geyer@lmu.de
Thomas
T
Geyer
Hermann J
HJ
Müller
Joseph
J
Krummenacher
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D014796:Visual Perception