A Bottleneck Model of Set-Specific Capture

Moore, Katherine Sledge; Weissman, Daniel H. · 2014 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088313

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Summary

This study investigates the cognitive mechanisms underlying "set-specific contingent attentional capture," a phenomenon where identifying a target matching one attentional set (e.g., green) impairs the identification of a subsequent target matching a different set (e.g., orange). The authors aim to distinguish between two competing theoretical models: the "divided resource" model, which posits that processing capacity is distributed across multiple sets, and the "Focus of Attention" (FOA) model, a bottleneck theory suggesting that working memory can enhance only one attentional set at a time. The researchers employed a modified attentional blink paradigm using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP). Participants searched a stream of colored letters for up to three targets (T1–T3) defined by three distinct colors: orange, green, and lavender. The experimental design included trials with one, two, or three targets. Critical trials involved three targets where T1 and T2 matched different attentional sets and were both successfully identified. The study compared T3 identification accuracy in conditions where T3 matched T1’s set (BAB trials) versus conditions where T3 matched neither T1’s nor T2’s set (BAC trials). The results confirmed the presence of set-specific capture, as T2 and T3 accuracy were lower when they matched different sets than when they matched the same set. Crucially, in trials where both T1 and T2 were identified, T3 accuracy did not differ between BAB and BAC conditions. This finding contradicts the divided resource model, which predicts higher accuracy when T3 matches T1’s set due to lingering resource allocation. Instead, the data support the FOA model, indicating that once T2 is identified, its set occupies the focus of attention, blocking access to T1’s set. Furthermore, in trials where T1 was identified but T2 was missed, T3 accuracy was significantly higher when T3 matched T1’s set. This demonstrates that T1’s set remains enhanced in the FOA until displaced by the identification of a subsequent target. The findings provide strong evidence for a bottleneck model of set-specific capture. The authors conclude that working memory operates with a limited-capacity focus of attention that can maintain only one attentional set at a time. This mechanism explains why set-specific capture occurs: the involuntary enhancement of a distractor’s set occupies the FOA, preventing the simultaneous enhancement of a different set required for subsequent target identification. This challenges resource-depletion accounts and aligns with theories proposing that focused attention is strictly serial rather than parallel.

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Topics

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• attention
• inattentional change blindness
• visual search
• capacity resource theory