title: Allocating attention to distractor locations is based on top-down expectations.
abstract: Failures of selective attention may be explained by the attentional white bear (AWB) hypothesis maintaining that prior knowledge of distractor location causes attentional allocation to it. The AWB is demonstrated by embedding infrequent trials of two simultaneous dots among flanker trials. The dot at the expected distractor location is perceived as appearing before the dot at the expected empty location, indicating attentional allocation to expected distractor locations. A major requirement of the AWB hypothesis is that it occurs in a top-down manner due to expectations. We devised a variation of the original AWB experiment, which enabled us to differentiate between the top-down and bottom-up contributions. The results show that top-down expectancies, which are a critical part of the AWB characterization, occur independently of bottom-up contributions.
authors: a Department of Psychology , Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv , Israel.
authors: Aya
authors: A
authors: Lahav
authors: Yehoshua
authors: Y
authors: Tsal
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D010470:Perceptual Masking / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*