title: Contingent orienting or contingent capture: a size singleton matching the target-distractor size relation cannot capture attention.
abstract: In the present study, we examined whether a peripheral size-singleton distractor that matches the target-distractor size relation can capture attention and disrupt central target identification. Three experiments consistently showed that a size singleton that matches the target-distractor size relation cannot capture attention when it appears outside of the attentional window, even though the same size singleton produces a cuing effect. In addition, a color singleton that matches the target color, instead of a size singleton that matches the target-distractor size relation, captures attention when it is outside of the attentional window. Thus, a size-relation-matched distractor is much weaker than a color-matched distractor in capturing attention and cannot capture attention when the distractor appears outside of the attentional window.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Beijing, China, 100101, duf@psych.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D054518:Attentional Blink / Q000502:physiology; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D012858:Size Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult