title: Perceptual load modulates object-based attention.
abstract: Two experimental series are reported using both reaction time (RT) and a data-limited perceptual report to examine the effects of perceptual load on object-based attention. Perceptual load was manipulated across 3 levels by increasing the complexity of perceptual judgments. Data from the RT-based experiments showed object-based effects when the target was near the cued location. Results from the data-limited procedure showed that, with low perceptual load, attention spread along the cued object, supporting an object-based attention account. As load increased, attention was constrained to object locations near the cue, but attention still favored the cued object, inconsistent with a scanning prioritization account of object-based attention effects. Furthermore, findings showed that perceptual load modulates object selection in a manner similar to spatial attention, suggesting that there might be a common process underlying object-based and spatial attention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Chung-Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Chou
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Atchley
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D004215:Distance Perception / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D010470:Perceptual Masking / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology