Abrupt onsets capture attention independent of top-down control settings.
Previous research using a spatial cuing paradigm in which a distractor cue preceded the target has shown that new objects presented with abrupt onsets only capture attention when observers are set to look for them (e.g., Folk, Remington, & Johnston, 1992). In the present study, we used the same spatial cuing paradigm as Folk et al. (1992) to demonstrate that even when observers have an attentional set for a color singleton or a specific color feature, an irrelevant new object presented with an abrupt onset interfered with search. We also show that the identity of the abrupt-onset distractor affects responses to the target, indicating that at some point spatial attention was allocated to the abrupt onset. We conclude that abrupt onsets ornew objects override a top-down set for color. Abrupt onsets or new objects appear to capture attention independently of top-down control settings.
Schreij
Daniel
D
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Owens
Calebn
C
Theeuwes
Jan
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D003463:Cues; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D012718:Set, Psychology