grouping allows for attention to cover noncontiguous locations and
suppress capture from nearby locations. Journal of Experimental
Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.
Abstract
A salient stimulus may interrupt visual search because of attentional
capture. It has been
shown that attentional capture occurs with a wide, but not with a
small attentional window. We
tested the hypothesis that capture depends more strongly on the shape
of the attentional
window than on its size. Search elements were arranged in two nested
rings. The ring containing
the search target remained fixed, while a salient color singleton
occurred either in the same or in
the other ring. We observed that color singletons only disrupted
search when shown in the same
ring as the search target. Importantly, when focusing on the outer
array which presumably
required a larger attentional window, singletons on the inner array
did not capture attention. In
contrast to the original attentional window hypothesis, our results
show that attentional capture
does not always occur with a large attentional window. Rather,
attention can be flexibly allocated
to the set of relevant stimulus locations and attentional capture is
confined to the attended
locations. Further experiments showed that attention was allocated to
search elements that were
perceptually grouped into Gestalt-like objects which prevented
attentional capture from nearby
locations. However, when attention was allocated to noncontiguous
locations that did not form a
perceptual Gestalt, nearby locations elicited attentional capture.
Perceptual grouping could be
based on a combination of color and position, but not on color alone.
Thus, the allocation of
attention to Gestalt-like objects that were jointly defined by
similarity and proximity prevented
attentional capture from nearby locations.
http://www.unige.ch/fapse/PSY/persons/kerzel/reprints/JEP.HPP.2012.pdf
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten