Attentional capture during attentional awakening

Inukai, Tomoe; Shimomura, Tomonari; Kawahara, Jun I. · 2016 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3758/s13414-015-0985-3

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Summary

This study investigates the temporal dynamics of attentional set, specifically determining whether attentional control is available immediately at the onset of a trial or develops gradually over time. The research addresses the intersection of "attentional awakening"—the gradual improvement in target identification accuracy as time elapses from trial onset—and "attentional capture," where salient distractors impair performance. The authors sought to clarify whether the top-down attentional set required for ignoring distractors is ready from the start or requires a warm-up period, depending on the search strategy employed. The researchers conducted three experiments using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task. Participants identified a target letter embedded in a stream of nontargets while ignoring peripheral distractors. Experiment 1 utilized a singleton detection mode, where observers searched for an oddly colored target among gray nontargets without knowing the specific target color in advance. Experiment 2 employed a feature search mode, where observers searched for a specific color (e.g., red) among heterogeneous-colored nontargets. Experiment 3 replicated Experiment 1 but introduced additional backward masking to lower overall accuracy, testing whether task difficulty influenced the timing of attentional capture. In all experiments, the serial position of the target and the presence/type of distractors were manipulated to measure the interaction between attentional awakening and capture. The results revealed distinct temporal profiles for the two search modes. In Experiment 1 (singleton detection), attentional capture occurred only when targets appeared later in the stream (bins 2 and 3); no capture was observed at the earliest positions. This indicates that the attentional set for detecting singletons requires time to become effective. In contrast, Experiment 2 (feature search) showed attentional capture even at the earliest temporal bin, suggesting that the feature search set is available immediately from the start of viewing. However, the magnitude of capture increased over the first 1,000 ms in both modes. Experiment 3 confirmed that the lack of early capture in singleton detection was not due to task difficulty, as adding masking did not induce capture at the earliest bin. These findings imply that the availability of attentional set depends on the specific search strategy. Singleton detection requires a warm-up period for bottom-up signals to become effective, whereas feature search does not. This distinction clarifies the temporal deployment of attention, suggesting that while general attentional readiness develops gradually regardless of strategy, the specific top-down set for feature-based search is prepared prior to stimulus onset, unlike the set for singleton detection.

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Topics

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• attention selective divided
• inattentional change blindness
• visual search