Attentional Access to Multiple Target Objects in Visual Search
DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01476
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Summary
This study investigates the capacity limitations of visual access, a function of attention distinct from target selection, which involves making target objects available for higher-level cognitive processing. While selection (distinguishing targets from distractors) is well-studied, the mechanisms governing access to multiple simultaneous targets remain unclear. The authors test the "Boolean Map" theory, which posits that visual access is feature-specific: multiple targets can be accessed in parallel only if they share the same defining feature. If targets differ in features, access is impaired, requiring sequential processing. The study aims to validate this hypothesis using behavioral measures and the N2pc event-related potential (ERP), an electrophysiological marker of attentional processing. In Experiment 1, participants performed a two-color search task, identifying displays containing one target, two targets with the same color, or two targets with different colors. Behavioral results showed significant costs for different-color targets: reaction times were slower (813 ms) and error rates higher (19%) compared to same-color targets (754 ms, 9% errors). Electrophysiologically, N2pc amplitudes were largest for same-color targets, indicating parallel access to two objects. Crucially, N2pc amplitudes for different-color targets were reduced to levels comparable to single-target displays, suggesting that only one target was accessed at a time. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and ruled out low-level perceptual grouping as an explanation. In singleton search tasks (where targets were salient among homogeneous distractors), the performance and N2pc costs for different-feature targets disappeared, confirming that the limitations observed in Experiment 1 were specific to feature-based access rather than general perceptual grouping. The findings demonstrate strong feature-specific limitations in visual access. Parallel access to multiple targets is possible only when they share task-relevant features; otherwise, access is restricted to a single target at a time. Furthermore, the study establishes that the N2pc component is sensitive to the number of objects simultaneously accessed, serving as a valid marker for visual access processes rather than just selection. These results support the Boolean Map theory’s single-feature access principle, clarifying that visual attention’s capacity constraints are determined by the feature definitions of target objects. This distinction between selection and access provides a more nuanced understanding of attentional control, suggesting that mechanisms of visual access can be effectively studied using electrophysiological markers.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-11 |
| archive | success | semantic_scholar | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-25 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-25 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-11 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-11 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-11 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-11 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-25; verification: verified.
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