New objects do not capture attention without a sensory transient.
Attention capture occurs when a stimulus event involuntarily recruits attention. The abrupt appearance of a new object is perhaps the most well-studied attention-capturing event, yet there is debate over the root cause of this capture. Does a new object capture attention because it involves the creation of a new object representation or because its appearance creates a characteristic luminance transient? The present study sought to resolve this question by introducing a new object into a search display, either with or without a unique luminance transient. Contrary to the results of a recent study (Davoli, Suszko, & Abrams, 2007), when the new object's transient was masked by a brief interstimulus interval introduced between the placeholder and search arrays, a new object did not capture attention. Moreover, when a new object's transient was masked, participants could not locate a new object efficiently even when that was their explicit goal. Together, these data suggest that luminance transient signals are necessary for attention capture by new objects.
Hollingworth
Andrew
A
Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1407, USA. andrew-hollingworth@uiowa.edu
Simons
Daniel J
DJ
Franconeri
Steven L
SL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity; D003463:Cues; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011930:Reaction Time; D012438:Saccades; D055815:Young Adult