Abstract
The extent to which brief abrupt-onset visual stimuli involuntarily capture spatial attention was examined in five experiments. The paradigm used was intended to maximize the opportunity and incentive for subjects to ignore abrupt-onset distractor stimuli in nontarget locations. Subjects made a speeded two-choice response to a target letter appearing in one of four boxes. An abrupt-onset visual stimulus, easily discriminable from the target, was flashed briefly prior to the presentation of a target. In separate blocks, the flash stimulus marked the box in which the target would subsequently appear (SAME), a different box (DIFF), fixation (CENTER), or all four boxes (ALL). Prior to each block, subjects were informed of the flash-target relationship. In all five experiments, response time was elevated in the DIFF, CENTER, and ALL conditions. The interference effect was larger for the DIFF condition and persisted for longer flash-target SOAs. These results suggest that, under appropriate conditions, spatial attention can be involuntarily drawn to abrupt-onset events despite the intention of subjects’ to ignore them.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bashinski, H. S., &Bacharach, V. R. (1980). Enhancement of perceptual sensitivity as the result of selectively attending to spatial locations.Perception & Psychophysics,28, 241–280.
Bertelson, P. (1967). The time course of preparation.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,19, 272–279.
Bushnell, M. C., Robinson, D. L., &Goldberg, M. E. (1978). Dissociation of movement and attention: Neuronal correlates in parietal cortex.Neurosciences Abstracts,4, 621.
Duncan, J. (1984). Selective attention and the organization of visual information.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,113, 501–517.
Eriksen, C. W., &Hoffman, J. E. (1972). Temporal and spatial characteristics of selective encoding from visual displays.Perception & Psychophysics,12, 201–204.
Eriksen, C. W., &Schultz, D. W. (1978). Temporal factors in visual information processing: Atutorial review, in J. Requin (Ed.),Attention and performance VII (pp. 3–24). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Eriksen, C. W., &St. James, J. D. (1986). Visual attention within and around the field of focal attention: A zoom lens model.Perception & Psychophysics,40, 225–240.
Eriksen, C. W., &Yeh, Y. (1985). Allocation of attention in the visual field.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,11, 583–597.
Folk C. L., Remington, R. W., & Johnston, J. C. (in press). Involuntary covert orienting is contingent on attention control settings.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance.
Hawkins, H. L., Hillyard, S. A., Luck, S. J., Mouloua, M., Downing, C. J., &Woodward, D. P. (1990). Visual attention modulates signal detectability.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,16, 802–811.
Hoffman, J. E., &Nelson, B. (1981). Spatial selectivity in visual search.Perception & Psychophysics,30, 283–290.
Jonides, J. (1981). Voluntaty 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., &Mack, R. (1984). Onthe cost and benefit of cost and benefit.Psychological Bulletin,96, 29–44.
Jonides, J. Naveh-Benjamin, M., &Palmer, J. (1985). Assessing automaticity.Acta Psychologica,60, 157–171.
Kahneman, D., &Treisman, A. (1984). Changing views of attention andautomaticity. In R. Parasuraman, R. Davies, & J. Beatty (Eds.),Varieties of attention (pp. 29–61). New York: Academic Press.
Kahneman, D., Treisman, A., &Burkell, J. (1983). The cost of visual filtering.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,9, 510–522.
LaBerge, D. (1981). Automatic information processing: A review. In J. B. Long & A. D. Baddeley (Eds.),Attention and performance IX (pp. 173–186). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Lambert, A., Spencer, E., &Mohindra, N. (1987). Automaticity and the capture of attention by a peripheral display change.Current Psychological Research & Reviews,6, 136–147.
Miller, J. (1989). The control of attention by abrupt visual onsets and offsets.Perception & Psychophysics,45, 567–571.
Müller, H. J., &Findlay, J. M. (1987). Sensitivity and criterion effects in the spatial cuing of visual attention.Perception & Psychophysics,42, 383–399.
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.
Murphy, T. D., &Eriksen, C. W. (1987). Temporal changes in the distribution of attention in the visual field in response to precues.Perception & Psychophysics,42, 576–586.
Posner, M. I. (1978).Chronometric explorations of mind. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Posner, M. I. (1980). Orienting of attention.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,32, 3–25.
Posner, M. I., &Cohen, Y. (1984). Components of visual orienting. in H. Bouma & D. G. Bouwhuis (Eds.),Attention and performance X (pp. 55–66). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
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. (1980). Attention and saccadic eye movements.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,6, 726–744.
Remington, R. W., &Pierce, L. (1984). Moving attention: Evidence for time-invariant shifts of visual selective attention.Perception & Psychophysics,35, 393–399.
Shiffrin, R. M., &Schneider, W. (1977). Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending, and a general theory.Psychological Review,84, 127–190.
Shulman, G. L., Remington, R. W., &McLean, J. P. (1979). Moving attention through visual space.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,5, 522–526.
Treisman, A., &Gormican, S. (1988). Feature analysis in early vision: Evidence from search asymmetries.Psychological Review,95, 15–48.
Tsal, Y. (1983). Movements of attention across the visual field.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,9, 523–530.
Warner, C. B., Juola, J. F., &Koshino, H. (1990). Voluntary allocation versus automatic capture of visual attention.Perception & Psychophysics,48, 243–251.
Yantis, S., &Johnston, J. C. (1990). On the locus of visual selection: Evidence from focused attention tasks.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,16, 135–149.
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
Corresponding author
Additional information
S. Yantis participated with the support of NASA JRI NCA2-413 and NIMH Grant ROl-MH43924.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Remington, R.W., Johnston, J.C. & Yantis, S. Involuntary attentional capture by abrupt onsets. Perception & Psychophysics 51, 279–290 (1992). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212254
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212254