Abstract
Set-specific contingent attentional capture is a particularly strong form of capture that occurs when multiple attentional sets guide visual search (e.g., “search for green letters” and “search for orange letters”). In this type of capture, a potential target that matches one attentional set (e.g. a green stimulus) impairs the ability to identify a temporally proximal target that matches another attentional set (e.g. an orange stimulus). In the present study, we investigated whether set-specific capture stems from a bottleneck in working memory or from a depletion of limited resources that are distributed across multiple attentional sets. In each trial, participants searched a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream for up to three target letters (T1–T3) that could appear in any of three target colors (orange, green, or lavender). The most revealing findings came from trials in which T1 and T2 matched different attentional sets and were both identified. In these trials, T3 accuracy was lower when it did not match T1’s set than when it did match, but only when participants failed to identify T2. These findings support a bottleneck model of set-specific capture in which a limited-capacity mechanism in working memory enhances only one attentional set at a time, rather than a resource model in which processing capacity is simultaneously distributed across multiple attentional sets.
Highlights
Selective attention facilitates the processing of goal-relevant stimuli while inhibiting the processing of irrelevant stimuli
In a dynamic rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm, capture is demonstrated as lower target identification accuracy when a target appears shortly following a distractor sharing features with the target’s atttentional set [7,8,9,10]
We began by verifying the presence of set-specific capture in our task
Summary
Selective attention facilitates the processing of goal-relevant stimuli while inhibiting the processing of irrelevant stimuli To accomplish this objective, it is thought that one or more attentional sets are created in memory, which define targets related to current goals using perceptual or conceptual attributes such as color, location, and semantic category [1,2,3,4,5]. In the classic cueing version of this paradigm, contingent attentional capture manifests as slowed reaction times to identify a target (e.g., a red letter) that appears in a different location than an immediately-preceding distractor that matches the target’s attentional set (e.g., a red digit) [4]. In a dynamic rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm, capture is demonstrated as lower target identification accuracy when a target appears shortly following a distractor sharing features with the target’s atttentional set [7,8,9,10]
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