were dramatically larger with abrupt onset cues (117 ms) than with color singleton ... Competing Accounts ... Degree of capture by this pre-cue is indexed by the.
Attentional Dwelling and Capture by Color Singletons 1Department
Assumes spatial attention is captured by the cue and dwells there until that location is classified as a target or distractor. Thus, cue validity effects increase with search difficulty.
The Present Study The present experiments extended this approach to the study of capture by color singletons. Previous studies have yielded mixed results, in part due to easy visual searches that lack the sensitivity to detect the costs of capture. To solve this problem, we had participants find a target circle among ovals. This task allowed us to vary targetdistractor similarity – and hence search difficulty – across a wide range. Search difficulty was varied trial-by-trial to prevent adjustments in attentional set for different difficulty levels.
Frame 1000 ms
Frame 50 ms
Cue 100 ms
Search Array until response
Experiment 3: Abrupt Onsets Experiment 3 replicated Experiment 2, but with an abrupt onset cue instead of a color singleton cue. Based on Gaspelin et al. (2016), we expected cue validity effects to return. 160
Onset Cue Medium
Easy
Design: Cue location was random and unrelated to target location. Cue-Target SOA was 150 ms.
Difficult
160 140
Cue Validity Effect (ms)
1200
Response Time (ms)
2 Gaspelin
120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Easy
120
1100
140
Cue Validity Effect (ms)
Task: Find the perfect circle among ovals, then indicate whether the dot is on the left or right side of the circle.
1000 900 800 700 600 500
Key Finding: Despite identical search displays, cue validity effects were dramatically larger with abrupt onset cues (117 ms) than with color singleton cues (7 ms). We conclude that abrupt onsets capture attention, replicating Gaspelin et al. (2016).
80 60 40 20 0
Invalid Valid Invalid Valid Invalid Valid
Medium
Medium Difficult Search Difficulty
100
Easy
Assumes spatial attention is initially captured by salient cues, but then disengages before the target appears. Predicts no cue validity effect at any difficulty level.
Nicholas
Experiment 1: Color Singletons
Competing Accounts Assumes no capture by cues because they are task irrelevant, and therefore predicts no cue validity effect at any level of search difficulty.
Joshua
1 Maxwell ,
of Psychology, University of New Mexico 2Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis
Introduction Can salient stimuli capture spatial attention against our will? To answer this question, many researchers have used the spatial cuing paradigm, in which a salient stimulus is presented shortly before a search display. Degree of capture by this pre-cue is indexed by the cue validity effect: capture should speed up responses when the cue and target are in the same location, but slow responses when they are in different locations (Folk et al., 1992). Gaspelin, Ruthruff, and Lien (2016), however, recently questioned this logic. They found that the same abrupt onset cue can produce either very small or very large cue validity effects, depending on search difficulty. Cue validity effects depend not only on the probability of capture, but also the cost of capture incurred during search. They argued for an attentional dwelling account of capture over competing models.
Eric
1 Ruthruff ,
Easy
Difficult
Medium Difficult
Search Difficulty
Key Finding: Large cue validity effects that grew as search difficulty increased, indicating attention capture.
Summary • Abrupt onsets can capture attention based on salience alone (Experiment 3), but color singletons cannot (Experiment 2).
Experiment 2: Feature Search Mode
• Distractor homogeneity promotes singleton detection mode, thereby making color singletons relevant.
Within each trial of Experiment 1, distractors were homogenous. Therefore, participants could have found the target, not by looking for a circle, but by looking for a singleton. This singleton detection mode would be problematic, because capture by color singletons could reflect task-relevance rather than salience. Experiment 2 prevented singleton detection mode by using heterogeneous displays.
• When color singletons did capture attention due to relevance (Experiment 1), cue validity effects increased sharply with search difficulty (from 12 to 70 ms). This finding supports the attentional dwelling account.
Heterogeneous Search Display
160
Cue Validity Effect (ms)
Michael
1 Faulks ,
140 120 100 80
• These findings demonstrate the generality of the attentional dwelling account and confirm the importance of considering search difficulty. Under easy search, capture effects are minimized, making it particularly difficult to discriminate between models of capture.
References
60 40 20 0 Easy
Medium Difficult
Search Difficulty
Key Finding: Cue validity effects shrank to only 7 ms. Clearly, color singletons cannot capture attention based on salience alone.
Folk, C. L., Remington, R. W., & Johnston, J. C. (1992). Involuntary covert orienting is contingent on attentional control settings. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 18, 10301030. Gaspelin, N., Ruthruff, E., & Lien, M. C. (2016). The problem of latent attentional capture: Easy visual search conceals capture by task-irrelevant abrupt onsets. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance, 42, 1104-1120.
