Objects but not concepts modulate the size of the attended region.
Here we investigated the types of stimuli that modulate the size of the attentional spotlight. In particular, it has been previously shown that conceptual cues that either directly refer to or are semantically related to particular spatial locations can shift attention to that location (known as "conceptual cueing"). For example, reading the word sun or joy can shift attention upward whereas the word boot or hostile can shift attention downward. Here, therefore, we tested whether words could modulate the size of the attended area. Across five experiments, we found that words that either directly referred to, or were abstractly associated with, particular sizes (small versus large) did not change the size of the attentional spotlight, whereas the presence of differently sized stimuli did, as evidenced by faster responses to targets when the spotlight is small than when it is large. This suggests that physical but not conceptual inducers can modulate the size of the attentional spotlight. This highlights an important difference between the regulation of spotlight size and shifts of attention, supporting the notion that they are subserved by distinct mechanisms.
a Research School of Psychology , The Australian National University , Canberra , ACT , Australia.
Stephanie C
SC
Goodhew
a Research School of Psychology , The Australian National University , Canberra , ACT , Australia.
Mark
M
Edwards
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001244:Association; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012858:Size Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
Attentional spotlight; Conceptual cueing; Spatial attention; Visual attention; Visual span; Zoom-lens