Target-nontarget similarity modulates stimulus-driven control in visual search

Authors: Proulx, Michael J.; Egeth, Howard E.

Source: Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, Volume 13, Number 3, June 2006 , pp. 524-529(6)

Publisher: Psychonomic Society Publications

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Abstract:

The literature contains conflicting results concerning whether an irrelevant featural singleton (an item unique with respect to a feature such as color or brightness) can control attention in a stimulus-driven manner. The present study explores whether target-nontarget similarity influences stimulus-driven shifts of attention to a distractor. An experiment evaluated whether manipulating target-nontarget similarity by varying orientation would modulate distraction by an irrelevant feature (a bright singleton). We found that increasing target-nontarget similarity resulted in a decreased impact of a uniquely bright object on visual search. This method of manipulating the target-nontarget similarity independent of the salience of a distracting feature suggests that the extent to which visual attention is stimulus-driven depends on the target-nontarget similarity.

Document Type: Research article

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