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Spatial cuing in a stereoscopic display: Evidence for a “depth-blind” attentional spotlight

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Abstract

This experiment explored whether attentional selection observed in a spatial cuing task is based on a representation that includes depth information or not. Targets were presented inside placeholders appearing at the samex,y location on a stereoscopic display, but on different depth planes, or at differentx,y locations on the same depth plane. A peripheral precue produced significant cuing effects in the latter but not in the former condition. In a control experiment, significant cuing effects were found for targets appearing at differentx,y coordinates within the fovea, confirming that the lack of cuing effects in the depth condition was not due to foveal presentation. Together, the results suggest that spatial selection in spatial cuing tasks operates on a representation that does not include depth information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Villanova University, 19085, Villanova, PA

    Thomas G. Ghirardelli & Charles L. Folk

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  1. Thomas G. Ghirardelli
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  2. Charles L. Folk
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Correspondence to Charles L. Folk.

Additional information

This experiment is based on the master’s thesis of T.G.G., who is now at the Department of Psychology, Johns Hopkins University. Portions of the results were reported at the 64th Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association in Arlington, Virginia, in April 1993. We thank Howard Egeth, Steven Yantis, James Hoffman, Harold Pashler, Art Kramer, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on this work.

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Ghirardelli, T.G., Folk, C.L. Spatial cuing in a stereoscopic display: Evidence for a “depth-blind” attentional spotlight. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 3, 81–86 (1996). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210744

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210744

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