The Role of Learning in Resistance to Capture by Physically Salient Irrelevant Singletons

attentional capture;attentional guidance;search modes;salience;Psychology

Graves, TashinaDavid, Steven R. ;

Johns Hopkins University

关键词: attentional capture;    attentional guidance;    search modes;    salience;    Psychology;   

Others  :  https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2/39557/GRAVES-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: JOHNS HOPKINS DSpace Repository

【 摘 要 】

When observers search for a singleton shape, their attention can be captured, that is, they can be distracted, by an irrelevant singleton along the dimension of color. Attempts have been made to explain this phenomenon in terms of bottom-up guidance based on the physical properties of the display. The color singleton is more physically salient, that is, it stands out more in the display, than the target. However, when observers are forced to search for a particular shape, the typical finding is that they will not experience attentional capture by the irrelevant singleton. This had led to the argument that attentional guidance is top-down and based on current goals. In the first case participants were set to look for singletons, referred to as singleton detection, and therefore were distracted by the irrelevant color singleton, and in the second case they were searching for a particular shape, referred to as feature search, and therefore were not influenced by color. There is more recent evidence that past experience can also control attentional guidance. We found that past experience with the salient feature of the irrelevant color singleton is what allows participants to resist attentional capture, even when they have no past experience with target features. This resistance to capture appears transfer to trials where participants can use either a singleton detection strategy or a feature search strategy, but not trials where a singleton detection strategy is required. We also found that capture can occur when participants are forced to engage in feature search, but cannot learn to associate a particular color or colors with the irrelevant singleton. During singleton detection, past experience in terms of varying color singleton intensity can modulate the magnitude of capture. We believe that resistance to capture depends on experience with the salient feature of the distractor rather than factors that are either purely bottom-up or purely top-down, although physical properties and search strategy do play a role.