Eye-of-origin flash triggers eye-based attention only when the flash is task-relevant.

Abstract

Attentional selection can be based on a particular location, feature, or object. In this study, we used a monocular cuing paradigm to investigate whether selective attention is based on the input's eye-of-origin. We found that unpredictive monocular flashing cues can trigger eye-based orienting when the cues are task-relevant. Specifically, the response to the target presented to the uncued location of the cued eye (same-eye condition) was faster than the response to the uncued location of the uncued eye (different-eye condition). This eye-specific attentional effect was mainly caused by the benefits in the same-eye condition rather than the costs in the different-eye condition. However, when the monocular cues were task-irrelevant, the eye-specific attentional effect vanished. Moreover, the monocular cues can modulate the spatial Stroop effect, leading to an increasing spatial Stroop effect at the attended eye, which is consistent with the typical modulation of endogenous attention on the spatial Stroop effect. Notably, participants were not aware of the eye-of-origin of flashing cues. These findings demonstrate that endogenous attentional selection can be based on the input's eye-of-origin without an individual's awareness of the input's eye-of-origin, suggesting that attentional systems can selectively cause the enhancement and exploration of visual information relevant to the current task in a specific monocular channel. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).