title: Attentional spreading in object-based attention.
abstract: The authors investigated 2 effects of object-based attention: the spread of attention within an attended object and the prioritization of search across possible target locations within an attended object. Participants performed a flanker task in which the location of the task-relevant target was fixed and known to participants. A spreading attention account predicts that object-based attention will arise from the spread of attention through an attended object. A prioritization account predicts that there will be a small, if any, object-based effect because the location of the target is known in advance and objects are not required to prioritize the deployment of attentional search. The results suggested that object-based attention operates via the spread of attention within an object.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1407, USA.
authors.forename: Ashleigh M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.forename: Hyunkyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Shaun P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Vecera
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D003463:Cues; D004215:Distance Perception; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall; D009949:Orientation; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D013028:Space Perception