Attentional capture by a perceptually salient non-target facilitates target processing through inhibition and rapid rejection.
Perceptually salient distractors typically interfere with target processing in visual search situations. Here we demonstrate that a perceptually salient distractor that captures attention can nevertheless facilitate task performance if the observer knows that it cannot be the target. Eye-position data indicate that facilitation is achieved by two strategies: inhibition when the first saccade was directed to the target, and rapid rejection when the first saccade was captured by the salient distractor. Both mechanisms relied on the distractor being perceptually salient and not just perceptually different. The results demonstrate how bottom-up attentional capture can play a critical role in constraining top-down attentional selection at multiple stages of processing throughout a single trial.
Geng
Joy J
JJ
Center for Mind and Brain and Department of Psychology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA. jgeng@ucdavis.edu
Diquattro
Nicholas E
NE
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult