Abstract
In two experiments using spatial probes, we measured the temporal and spatial interactions between top-down control of attention and bottom-up interference from a salient distractor in visual search. The subjects searched for a square among circles, ignoring color. Probe response times showed that a color singleton distractor could draw attention to its location in the early stage of visual processing (before a 100-msec stimulus onset asynchrony [SOA]), but only when the color singleton distractor was located far from the target. Apparently the bottom-up activation of the singleton distractor’s location is affected early on by local interactions with nearby stimulus locations. Moreover, probe results showed that a singleton distractor did not receive attention after extended practice. These results suggest that top-down control of attention is possible at an early stage of visual processing. In the long-SOA condition (150-msec SOA), spatial attention selected the target location over distractor locations, and this tendency occurred with or without extended practice.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allport, D. A. (1980). Attention and performance. In G. Claxton (Ed.),Cognitive psychology: New directions (pp. 112–153). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Bacon.W. F., &Egeth, H. E. (1994). Overriding stimulus-driven attentional capture.Perception & Psychophysics,55, 485–496.
Bichot, N. P., Cave, K. R., &Pashler, H. (1999). Visual selection mediated by location: Feature-based selection of noncontiguous locations.Perception & Psychophysics,61, 403–423.
Bundesen, C. (1990). A theory of visual attention.Psychological Review,97, 523–547.
Caputo, G., &Guerra, S. (1998). Attentional selection by distractor suppression.Vision Research,38, 669–689.
Cave, K. R. (in press). The FeatureGate model of visual selection.Psychological Research.
Cave, K. R., Kim, M.-S., Bichot, N. P., & Sobel, K. V. (1999).Visual selection within a hierarchical network: The Feature Gate model. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Cave.K. R., &Wolfe, J. M. (1990). Modeling the role of parallel processing in visual search.Cognitive Psychology,22, 225–271.
Cave, K. R., &Zimmerman, J. M. (1997). Flexibility in spatial attention before and after practice.Psychological Science,8, 399–403.
Cepeda, N. J..Cave, K. R., Bichot.N. P., &Kim, M.S. (1998). Spatial selection via feature-driven inhibition of distractor locations.Perception & Psychophysics,60, 727–746.
Cheal, M. L., &Lyon, R. D. (1991). Central and peripheral precuing of forced-choice discrimination.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,43A, 859–880.
Deutsch, J. A., &Deutsch, D. (1963). Attention: Some theoretical considerations.Psychological Review,70, 80–90.
Duncan, J. (1980). The locus of interference in the perception of simultaneous stimuli.Psychological Review,87, 272–300.
Duncan, J., &Humphreys.G. (1989). Visual search and stimulus similarity.Psychological Review,96, 433–458.
Eriksen, C. W., &Hoffman, J. E. (1972). Temporal and spatial characteristics of selective encoding from visual displays.Perception & Psychophysics,12, 201–204.
Folk, C. L., &Annett, S. (1994). Do locally defined feature discontinuities capture attention?Perception & Psychophysics,56, 277–287.
Folk, C. L., &Remington, R. W. (1996). When knowledge does not help: Limitations on the flexibility of attentional control. In A. F. Kramer, M. G. H. Coles, & G. D. Logan (Eds.),Converging operations in the study of visual selective attention (pp. 271–295). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Folk, C. L., &Remington.R. W. (1998). Selectivity in distraction by irrelevant featural singletons: Evidence for two forms of attentional capture.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,24, 847–858.
Folk, C. L., Remington, R. W.. &Johnston, J. C. (1992). Involuntary covert orienting is contingent on attentional control settings.Journal of Experimental Psychologv: Human Perception & Performance,18, 1030–1044.
Folk, C. L., Remington, R. W., &Wright, J. H. (1994). The structure of attentional control: Contingent attentional capture by apparent motion, abrupt onset, and color.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,20, 317–329.
Hillstrom, A. P., &Yantis.S. (1994). Visual motion and attentional capture.Perception & Psychophysics,55, 399–411.
Jonides, J. (1981). Voluntary versus automatic control over the mind’s eye’s movement. In J. [B.] Long & A. [D.] Baddeley (Eds.),Attention and performance IX (pp. 187–203). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Jonides, J., &Yantis, S. (1988). Uniqueness of abrupt visual onset in capturing attention.Perception & Psychophysics,43. 346–354.
Kim, M.-S., &Cave, K. R. (1995). Spatial attention in visual search for features and feature conjunctions.Psychological Science,6. 376–380.
Kim. M.-S., & Cave, K. R. (1999).Perceptual grouping via spatial attention in a focused-atlention task. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Kim, M.-S., & Cave, K. R. (in press). Grouping effects on spatial attention in visual search.Journal of General Psychology.
Koch.C., &Ullman, S. (1985). Shifts in selective visual attention: Towards the underlying neural circuitry.Human Neurobiology,4, 219–227.
Koshino, H., Warner, C. B., &Juola.J. F. (1992). Relative effectiveness of central, peripheral, and abrupt onset cues in visual search.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,45A, 609–631.
Müller, H. J., &Rabbitt, P. M. A. (1989). Reflexive and voluntary orienting of visual attention: Time course of activation and resistance to interruption.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,15, 315–330.
Nakayama, K., &Mackeben, M. (1989). Sustained and transient components of focal visual attention.Vision Research,29, 1631–1647.
Norman, D. A. (1968). Towards a theory of memory and attention.Psychological Review,75, 522–536.
Pashler, H. (1988). Cross-dimensional interaction and texture segregation.Perception & Psychophysics,43, 307–318.
Posner, M. I. (1978).Chronometrie exploration of mind. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Posner, M. I. (1980). Orienting of attention.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,32, 3–25.
Posner.M. I., Snyder, C. R. R., &Davidson.B. J. (1980). Attention and the detection of signals.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,109, 160–174.
Remington, R. W., Johnston, J. C., &Yantis, S. (1992). Involuntary attentional capture by abrupt onsets.Perception & Psychophysics,51, 279–290.
Shiffrin, R., &Schneider, W. (1977). Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending, and a general theory.Psychological Review,84, 127–190.
Theeuwes, J. (1991). Cross-dimensional perceptual selectivity.Perception & Psychophysics,50, 184–193.
Theeuwes, J. (1992). Perceptual selectivity for color and form.Perception & Psychophysics,51, 599–606.
Theeuwes, J. (1994). Stimulus-driven capture and attention set: Selective search for color and visual abrupt onsets.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,20, 799–806.
Theeuwes, J. (1995a). Perceptual selectivity for color and form: On the nature of the interference effect. In A. F. Kramer, M. G. H. Coles, & G. D. Logan (Eds.),Converging operations in the study of visual selective attention (pp. 297–314). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Theeuwes, J. (1995b). Temporal and spatial characteristics of preattentive and attentive processing.Visual Cognition,2, 221–233.
Treisman, A. M., &Gelade, G. (1980). A feature integration theory of attention.Cognitive Psychology,12, 97–136.
Treisman, A. M., &Sato, S. (1990). Conjunction search revisited.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,16,456–478.
Wolfe, J. M., Cave, K. R., &Franzel, S. (1989). Guided Search: An alternative to the feature integration model for visual search.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,15, 419–433.
Yantis, S. (1995). Attentional capture in vision. In A. F. Kramer, M. G. H. Coles, & G. D. Logan (Eds.),Converging operations in the study of visual selective attention (pp. 45–76). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Yantis, S., &Egeth, H. E. (1994). Visual salience and stimulus-driven attentional capture [Abstract].Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science,35, 1619.
Yantis, S., &Jonides, J. (1984). Abrupt visual onsets and selective attention: Evidence from visual search.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,10, 601–621.
Yantis, S., &Jonides, J. (1990). Abrupt visual onsets and selective attention: Voluntary versus automatic allocation.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,16, 121–134.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
—Accepted by previous editor: Myron L. Braunstein
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, MS., Cave, K.R. Top-down and bottom-up attentional control: On the nature of interference from a salient distractor. Perception & Psychophysics 61, 1009–1023 (1999). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207609
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207609