Involuntary transfer of a top-down attentional set into the focus of attention: Evidence from a contingent attentional capture paradigm

Moore, Katherine Sledge; Weissman, Daniel H. · 2010 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3758/app.72.6.1495

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Summary

This study investigates whether involuntarily directing attention to a distractor that possesses a target-defining feature causes the corresponding attentional set to enter the limited-capacity focus of attention. The authors propose an "enhancement hypothesis," suggesting that deeply processing a target-colored distractor prioritizes its associated attentional set, thereby facilitating the identification of a subsequent target that matches that same set. This framework addresses a gap in understanding how contingent attentional capture operates when multiple attentional sets are maintained simultaneously, contrasting with prior research that primarily examined single-set scenarios or intertrial priming. The researchers conducted three experiments using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants searched for letters in one or two target colors (set size 1 vs. 2) while ignoring peripheral distractors. The study measured target identification accuracy when preceded by a same-target-colored (STC) distractor, a different-target-colored (DTC) distractor, or a non-target-colored (NTC) distractor. Experiment 2 introduced an "any-color" condition where all target colors matched a single attentional set to rule out bottom-up perceptual priming. Experiment 3 reversed the temporal order, presenting the distractor after the target, to exclude feature-based interference accounts. Stimuli were carefully controlled for luminance and discriminability to ensure that results reflected attentional mechanisms rather than perceptual salience. The results supported the enhancement hypothesis. In Experiment 1, contingent attentional capture effects were significantly smaller when the distractor and subsequent target shared the same attentional set (STC trials) compared to when they matched different sets (DTC trials). Specifically, performance impairment caused by the distractor was only one-half to one-third as large in STC trials, and recovery from this impairment was faster. Experiment 2 eliminated this effect when all targets matched the same attentional set, confirming that the benefit arose from set prioritization rather than simple color priming. Experiment 3 reversed the effect when the distractor appeared after the target, ruling out interference explanations. Crucially, the magnitude of traditional contingent capture (STC vs. NTC) did not differ between set size 1 and set size 2, indicating that participants maintained multiple sets equally well. The findings conclude that capacity limitations in working memory strongly influence contingent attentional capture. When multiple attentional sets guide selection, the involuntary detection of a target-colored distractor transfers its corresponding set into the focus of attention, enhancing the processing of subsequent targets that rely on that same set. This demonstrates that attentional control settings are not static but dynamically prioritize representations based on recent stimulus processing, providing insight into the interaction between attention and working memory during visual search.

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Topics

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• attention selective divided
• inattentional change blindness
• visual search