Color-relation-based capture occurs globally.

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that a distractor matching the target-nontarget color relation did not capture attention when it appeared outside of the attentional window, indicating that color-relation-based attention is lack of global selection. The present study examined whether a distractor best matching the target-nontarget color relation instead of the target color captured attention outside of the attentional window. The results consistently showed that peripheral distractors best matching the target-nontarget color relation instead of the target color captured attention outside of the attentional window. Additionally, color-relation-matched distractors outweighed target-color-matched distractors in capturing attention under this circumstance. This suggests that the color-relation-based attention shares the hallmark of global selection with the color-based attention. Combined with the previous finding of double dissociation of color-relation-based attention and color-based attention (Du & Jiao, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 42(4), 480-493, 2016; Du, Yin, Qi, & Zhang, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21(4), 1011-1018, 2014), preference for color-relation within the attentional window and priority for target color outside of the attentional window might be a strategic choice of visual attention.