title: Object-based selection is contingent on attentional control settings.
abstract: The visual system allocates attention in object-based and location-based modes. However, the question of when attention selects objects and when it selects locations remains poorly understood. In this article, we present variations on two classic paradigms from the object-based attention literature, in which object-based effects are observed only when the object feature matches the task goal of the observer. In Experiment 1, covert orienting was influenced by task-irrelevant rectangles, but only when the target color matched the rectangle color. In Experiment 2, the region of attentional focus was adjusted to the size of task-irrelevant objects, but only when the target color matched the object color. In Experiment 3, we ruled out the possibility that contingent object-based selection is caused by color-based intratrial priming. These demonstrations of contingent object-based attention suggest that object-based selection is neither mandatory nor default, and that object-based effects are contingent on simple, top-down attentional control settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3, Canada. j.eric.t.taylor@gmail.com.
authors.forename: J Eric T
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3, Canada.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rajsic
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3, Canada.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pratt
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003116:Color; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Contingent capture; Object-based attention; Space-based attention; Top-down control of attention