Spatial filtering restricts the attentional window during both singleton and feature-based visual search

Berggren, Nick; Eimer, Martin · 2020 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3758/s13414-020-01977-5

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Summary

This study investigates whether spatial filtering can restrict the attentional window during feature-based visual search, challenging the prevailing assumption that feature-based attention operates spatially globally across the entire visual field. While effective spatial filtering is well-documented in singleton search tasks (where a target is defined by its unique salience), it was previously believed that feature-based guidance (where a target is defined by a specific attribute like color) cannot be confined to task-relevant locations. The authors aimed to determine if advance knowledge of target location allows for effective spatial filtering in both singleton and feature-based search modes. To test this, the researchers conducted four experiments using a hybrid cueing/search paradigm. Participants were presented with spatial cues indicating the task-relevant hemifield, followed by visual search displays containing target-matching objects. They were instructed to respond to targets at cued locations and ignore identical objects at uncued, irrelevant locations. The study utilized event-related potentials (ERPs) to measure attentional selection and distractor suppression. Specifically, the N2pc component (an enhanced negativity reflecting attentional selection) and the PD component (a contralateral positivity reflecting active distractor inhibition) were recorded. Experiment 1 compared homogeneous displays (singleton search) with heterogeneous displays (feature-based search) under conditions where the target color was either constant or varied between two options. The results demonstrated that spatial filtering is effective in both search modes. During singleton search, N2pc components were elicited by relevant targets but were entirely absent for singletons on the irrelevant side. Crucially, similar results were found for feature-based search: N2pcs to irrelevant target-color objects were either absent or strongly attenuated, indicating that feature-based guidance can be restricted to relevant locations. Furthermore, the presence of PD components for salient objects on the irrelevant side in both search types suggests that spatial filtering involves active top-down suppression of distractors. Behavioral data supported these findings, showing reduced false alarms on invalid trials compared to response errors on valid trials. These findings challenge the view that feature-based attention is inherently spatially global. Instead, the study concludes that when advance information about target locations is available, effective spatial filtering processes are activated transiently during both singleton and feature-based visual search. This implies that feature-based attentional guidance is strongly modulated by spatial filtering, restricting its effects to task-relevant locations and correcting common misperceptions about the nature of feature-based attention in visual cognition.

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Topics

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• attention selective divided
• visual search
• inattentional change blindness