Object-based target templates guide attention during visual search.

Berggren, Nick; Eimer, Martin · 2018 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000541

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Summary

This study investigates whether visual search is guided strictly by feature-based templates or if object-based templates also play a role in attentional control. While traditional models like Guided Search assume that attention is directed by independent feature templates (e.g., color and shape) during the initial selection phase, this research tests whether integrated object representations can guide attention when feature-based guidance is insufficient. The authors used event-related potentials (ERPs) to measure the N2pc component, reflecting attentional selection, and the SPCN component, reflecting working memory encoding, during conjunction search tasks. In Experiment 1, participants searched for one of two target objects (e.g., blue circle or green square) among distractors. Crucially, some displays contained "incorrect conjunction" objects that possessed both target features but in the wrong combination (e.g., blue square). When only one object with target-matching features was present per display, targets and incorrect conjunctions elicited identical N2pc and SPCN components. This indicated that attentional guidance and working memory access were entirely feature-based, as the system could not distinguish between the correct target object and the incorrect conjunction based on features alone. Behavioral data showed slower reaction times for incorrect conjunctions, suggesting post-selection identification costs, but no electrophysiological distinction was found. Experiment 2 introduced competition by including both targets and incorrect conjunctions in the same display. Under these conditions, clear evidence for object-based control emerged. From 250 ms post-stimulus, the N2pc amplitude for targets became significantly larger than for incorrect conjunctions. Furthermore, only targets elicited SPCN components, indicating that incorrect conjunctions were excluded from working memory. This demonstrates that when feature-based guidance cannot uniquely identify a target, object-based templates are activated to distinguish targets from nontargets. The findings challenge the view that early attentional control is exclusively feature-based. The results suggest a two-stage process: an initial phase of feature-based guidance followed by the activation of object-based templates when necessary to resolve ambiguity. These object-based templates modulate visual processing and control access to working memory, potentially coinciding with feature integration processes. Additionally, the study indicates that while multiple feature templates can be active concurrently, only a single object-based target template guides attention at any given time. This provides a more nuanced understanding of how mental representations guide visual search, showing that object-level information can influence attention rapidly, within a quarter of a second.

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Topics

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• visual search
• attention selective divided