Rapid disengagement hypothesis and signal suppression hypothesis of visual attentional capture

Zhang, Fan; Chen, Airui; Dong, Bo; Wang, Aijun; Zhang, Ming · 2020 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1042.2021.00045

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This review paper addresses the ongoing debate regarding the mechanisms of visual attentional capture, specifically focusing on two hybrid models that integrate bottom-up stimulus-driven processes with top-down goal-driven control: the rapid disengagement hypothesis and the signal suppression hypothesis. The research is motivated by the historical conflict between theories claiming that salient stimuli automatically capture attention regardless of task goals versus those asserting that capture is contingent on task relevance. The authors analyze existing empirical evidence supporting each hypothesis, noting that the experimental paradigms and search strategies employed significantly influence the findings. The rapid disengagement hypothesis, primarily supported by spatial cueing and oculomotor disengagement paradigms, posits that salient distractors always initially capture attention, but attention rapidly disengages from the location if the distractor is task-irrelevant. In these studies, participants typically employ a singleton detection strategy. Conversely, the signal suppression hypothesis, largely supported by variations of the additional singleton paradigm, argues that salient distractors generate an "attend-to-me" signal that is actively suppressed by top-down control before attentional capture occurs. These studies typically force participants to use a feature detection strategy. Key findings indicate that the rapid disengagement hypothesis explains phenomena such as reversed cueing effects and delayed saccadic latencies when distractors share features with targets, suggesting a time-dependent disengagement process. However, this hypothesis lacks robust electrophysiological evidence for the initial capture phase. The signal suppression hypothesis is supported by behavioral data showing reaction time benefits and reduced reporting of distractors, as well as electrophysiological markers like the distractor positivity (PD) component, which indicates active suppression. Eye-tracking studies further confirm that participants can inhibit saccades toward task-irrelevant singletons when using feature detection strategies. The paper concludes that the two hypotheses are not necessarily mutually exclusive but may reflect different aspects of attentional control influenced by experimental design and search strategies. Both models involve reactive and proactive suppression mechanisms. The authors suggest that future research should investigate the impact of reward history, training, and complex stimuli (such as emotional or semantic content) on these processes. Additionally, they call for more neuroimaging studies to clarify the neural bases of reactive versus proactive suppression and to determine if a unified mechanism underlies both hypotheses.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-25; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• attention selective divided