Authors
Daniel Schreij, Caleb Owens, Jan Theeuwes
Publication date
2008/2
Journal
Perception & psychophysics
Volume
70
Pages
208-218
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Description
Previous research using a spatial cuing paradigm in which a distractor cue preceded the target has shown that new objects presented with abrupt onsets only capture attention when observers are set to look for them (e.g., Folk, Remington, & Johnston, 1992). In the present study, we used the same spatial cuing paradigm as Folk et al. (1992) to demonstrate that even when observers have an attentional set for a color singleton or a specific color feature, an irrelevant new object presented with an abrupt onset interfered with search. We also show that the identity of the abrupt-onset distractor affects responses to the target, indicating that at some point spatial attention was allocated to the abrupt onset. We conclude that abrupt onsets or new objects override a top-down set for color. Abrupt onsets or new objects appear to capture attention independently of top-down control settings.
Total citations
Scholar articles
D Schreij, C Owens, J Theeuwes - Perception & psychophysics, 2008