Object-based Attention Research Articles

Behavioral and ERP evidence that object-based attention utilizes fine-grained spatial mechanisms

Valdes-Sosa, Cobo, and Pinilla (1998) introduced a transparent-motion design that provided evidence of object-based attention whereby attention embraces all features of an attentionally cued perceptual object including new unpredictable features such as a brief translation. Subsequent studies using variants of that design appeared to provide further behavioral, electrophysiological, and brain imaging evidence of object-based attention. Stoner and Blanc (2010) observed, however, that these previous results could potentially be explained by feature-based competition/normalization models of attention. To distinguish between the object-based and feature-based accounts, they introduced “feature swaps” into a delayed-onset variant of the transparent-motion design (Reynolds, Alborzian, & Stoner, 2003). Whereas the object-based attention account predicted that the effect of cueing would survive these feature swaps, the motion-competition account predicted that the effect of cueing would be reversed by these feature swaps. The behavioral results of Stoner and Blanc (2010) supported the object-based account, and in doing so, provided evidence that the attentional advantage in this design is spatially selective at the scale of the intermixed texture elements (i.e., dots) of the overlapping and moving dot fields. In the present study, we used the design of Stoner and Blanc (2010) to investigate both psychophysical performance and evoked activities under different cueing and feature swapping conditions. We confirmed that the behavioral effects of attentional cueing survived feature swaps and found event-related potential (ERP) correlates of those effects in the N1 component range over occipital and parieto-occipital scalp sites. These modulations of the neural activity were, moreover, significantly associated with variation in behavioral performance values across the different conditions. Our findings thus provide the first evidence of the role of the N1 component in object-based attention in this transparent-motion design under conditions that rule out feature-based mechanisms and that reveal selective processing at a fine spatial scale.

People attend to the world differently: The modulation of personality traits on the modes of attentional selection

People have different personality traits, which are the core features to distinguish individuals from one another. Moreover, a growing number of studies have called to establish the framework of the personality and cognition such as attention, memory, etc. Moreover, attentional selection, including space- and object-based attention, is a fundamental human behavior with important cognitive function. However, it is still unclear whether and how personality traits modulate different types of attentional selection. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore the issues mentioned above by differentiating space- and object-based attention. The results showed that space-based effect was observed for both low- and high-extraversion groups and there was no significant difference between them; but the object-based effect was obtained for low-extraversion, but not for high-extraversion groups. The same pattern with neuroticism for space-based effect was found. However, the object-based effect was observed for high-neuroticism, but not for low-neuroticism groups. The results suggested that personality traits can modulate only object-based attention by way of altering attentional scope. The present study can not only explain the fundamental accounts underlying the instability of object-based attention and can further support sensory enhancement theory, but also can provide new evidence for adaptive personality-attention framework.

The role of object representation strength in the object-based attention of dynamic object

<p id=C6>According to object-based attention (OBA) theory, attention processes object as a unit. When attention is directed to a certain part of an object, the processing of other features of the object will be promoted. Object-based attention has been confirmed by many studies. However, most of the previous studies are based on static objects, and there are few studies on how object-based attention changes for dynamic objects. However, information in the real world is always changing, using dynamic objects for OBA research is more ecologically valid and necessary. For the attentional allocation of dynamic objects, there are two theoretical assumptions: the cued object hypothesis and the dynamic updating hypothesis. The cued object hypothesis proposes that object-based attention follows the original cued object, while the dynamic updating hypothesis assumes that object-based attention is determined by the changed object. The study of attention on dynamic objects also found the instantaneous object effect, which means the object-based attention follows the instantaneous object. We propose that experiments supporting the two theoretical hypotheses have differences in the experimental manipulation, which lead to changes in the relative strength between object representations of the cued object and the instantaneous object, resulting in the two seemingly contradictory points of view. As to whether attention is based on the cued object or the instantaneous object, we proposes that the relative strength between object representations of the cued and instantaneous objects plays a critical role. That is, when the cued object representation is stronger than the instantaneous object representation, the object-based attention follows the original cued object, vice versa. The concept of object representation strength is of great significance in OBA research. It is found that object representation strength can affect OBA, and stronger object representation can capture attention more easily. The factors that affect the object representation strength, such as the object presentation time, the factors that affect the surface consistency of an object (such as the object color, texture, continuous contour, etc.) and the top-down factors, will also indirectly affect OBA through affecting the object representation strength. For these reasons, introduces the concept of object representation strength to the discussion of the theory of attending dynamic objects is necessary, but previous studies did not pay attention to the effects of the object representation strength on dynamic objects. In this paper, we introduced the concept of relative object representation strength and analyze the attention theory based on dynamic objects and its experimental basis. This approach can further improve the attention theory based on dynamic objects, get a unified explanation for previous contradictory results, and explain the cause of the cued and instantaneous object effects from a new perspective. The concept of the relative strength of object representation may be critical for understanding how object-based attention is allocated under the circumstance of processing dynamic objects and resolving the conflict of related theories. At present, the research of attention based on dynamic objects mainly focuses on the determination of cued and instantaneous objects, ignoring the important role of relative object representation strength, and most of the results are compared by the reaction time. Further study could focus on the relative object representation strength to test the influence of the relative object representation strength on dynamic object-based attention and explore its underlying mechanisms. At the same time, since the OBA effect is small descriptively, the method of recording the reaction time may lead to replication issue for some results. More sensitive psychophysical methods can be used in future studies to obtain more stable and repeatable results and help to better clarify the mechanisms of the dynamic object theory.

Excess success in articles on object-based attention

Twenty-five years of research has explored the object-based attention effect using the two-rectangles paradigm and closely related paradigms. While reading this literature, we noticed statistical attributes that are sometimes related to questionable research practices, which can undermine the reported conclusions. To quantify these attributes, we applied the Test for Excess Success (TES) individually to 37 articles that investigate various properties of object-based attention and comprise four or more experiments. A TES analysis estimates the probability that a direct replication of the experiments in a given article with the same sample sizes would have the same success (or better) as the original article. If the probability is low, then readers should be skeptical about the conclusions that are based on those experimental results. We find that 19 of the 37 analyzed articles (51%) seem too good to be true in that they have a replication probability below 0.1. In a new large sample study, we do find evidence for the basic object-based attention effect in the two-rectangles paradigm, which this literature builds on. A power analysis using this data shows that commonly used sample sizes in studies that investigate properties of object-based attention with the two-rectangles paradigm are, in fact, much too small to reliably detect even the basic effect.

Object-Based Attention Mechanism for Color Calibration of UAV Remote Sensing Images in Precision Agriculture

Color calibration is a critical step for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) remote sensing, especially in precision agriculture, which relies mainly on correlating color changes to specific quality attributes, e.g., plant health, disease, and pest stresses. In UAV remote sensing, the exemplar-based color transfer is popularly used for color calibration, where the automatic search for the semantic correspondences is the key to ensuring the color transfer accuracy. However, the existing attention mechanisms encounter difficulties in building the precise semantic correspondences between the reference image and the target one, in which the normalized cross correlation is often computed for feature reassembling. As a result, the color transfer accuracy is inevitably decreased by the disturbance from the semantically unrelated pixels, leading to semantic mismatch due to the absence of semantic correspondences. In this paper, we proposed an unsupervised object-based attention mechanism (OBAM) to suppress the disturbance of the semantically unrelated pixels, along with a further introduced weight-adjusted AdaIN (WAA) method to tackle the challenges caused by the absence of semantic correspondences. By embedding the proposed modules into a photorealistic style transfer method with progressive stylization, the color transfer accuracy can be improved while better preserving the structural details. We evaluated our approach on the UAV data of different crop types including rice, beans, and cotton. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms several state-of-the-art methods. As our approach requires no annotated labels, it can be easily embedded into the off-the-shelf color transfer approaches. Relevant codes and configurations will be available at http://github.com/huanghsheng/object-based-attention-mechanism.

Excess success in studies of object-based attention

Excess success in studies of object-based attention

Individual differences in the temporal dynamics of object-based attention

Individual differences in the temporal dynamics of object-based attention

The Normalization Model Captures the Effects of Object-based Attention in the Human Visual Cortex

Here, we report that normalization model can capture the effects of object-based attention across the visual hierarchy in the human brain. We used superimposed pairs of objects and asked participants to attend to different targets. Modeling voxel responses, we demonstrated that the normalization model outperforms other models in predicting voxel responses in the presence of attention. Our results propose normalization as a canonical computation operating in the primate brain.

Visual sensitivity and reaction time measures show no evidence for purely exogenous object-based attention

Visual sensitivity and reaction time measures show no evidence for purely exogenous object-based attention

Neural Correlates of Object-Based Attention in Early Visual Cortex in a 100% Valid Exogenous Cuing Task

Neural Correlates of Object-Based Attention in Early Visual Cortex in a 100% Valid Exogenous Cuing Task

Decoding Object-Based Auditory Attention from Source-Reconstructed MEG Alpha Oscillations.

How do we attend to relevant auditory information in complex naturalistic scenes? Much research has focused on detecting which information is attended, without regarding underlying top-down control mechanisms. Studies investigating attentional control generally manipulate and cue specific features in simple stimuli. However, in naturalistic scenes it is impossible to dissociate relevant from irrelevant information based on low-level features. Instead, the brain has to parse and select auditory objects of interest. The neural underpinnings of object-based auditory attention remain not well understood. Here we recorded MEG while 15 healthy human subjects (9 female) prepared for the repetition of an auditory object presented in one of two overlapping naturalistic auditory streams. The stream containing the repetition was prospectively cued with 70% validity. Crucially, this task could not be solved by attending low-level features, but only by processing the objects fully. We trained a linear classifier on the cortical distribution of source-reconstructed oscillatory activity to distinguish which auditory stream was attended. We could successfully classify the attended stream from alpha (8-14 Hz) activity in anticipation of repetition onset. Importantly, attention could only be classified from trials in which subjects subsequently detected the repetition, but not from miss trials. Behavioral relevance was further supported by a correlation between classification accuracy and detection performance. Decodability was not sustained throughout stimulus presentation, but peaked shortly before repetition onset, suggesting that attention acted transiently according to temporal expectations. We thus demonstrate anticipatory alpha oscillations to underlie top-down control of object-based auditory attention in complex naturalistic scenes.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In everyday life, we often find ourselves bombarded with auditory information, from which we need to select what is relevant to our current goals. Previous research has highlighted how we attend to specific highly controlled aspects of the auditory input. Although invaluable, it is still unclear how this relates to attentional control in naturalistic auditory scenes. Here we used the high precision of magnetoencephalography in space and time to investigate the brain mechanisms underlying top-down control of object-based attention in ecologically valid sound scenes. We show that rhythmic activity in auditory association cortex at a frequency of ∼10 Hz (alpha waves) controls attention to currently relevant segments within the auditory scene and predicts whether these segments are subsequently detected.

Object-based selection in visual working memory

Attentional mechanisms in perception can operate over locations, features, or objects. However, people direct attention not only towards information in the external world, but also to information maintained in working memory. To what extent do perception and memory draw on similar selection properties? Here we examined whether principles of object-based attention can also hold true in visual working memory. Experiment 1 examined whether object structure guides selection independently of spatial distance. In a memory updating task, participants encoded two rectangular bars with colored ends before updating two colors during maintenance. Memory updates were faster for two equidistant colors on the same object than on different objects. Experiment 2 examined whether selection of a single object feature spreads to other features within the same object. Participants memorized two sequentially presented Gabors, and a retro-cue indicated which object and feature dimension (color or orientation) would be most relevant to the memory test. We found stronger effects of object selection than feature selection: accuracy was higher for the uncued feature in the same object than the cued feature in the other object. Together these findings demonstrate effects of object-based attention on visual working memory, at least when object-based representations are encouraged, and suggest shared attentional mechanisms across perception and memory.

Automatic object-based spatial selection depends on the distribution of sustained attention

Several space-based and object-based attention studies suggest these selection mechanisms may be voluntarily deployed, depending on task parameters and the attentional scope of the observer. Here, we sought to elucidate factors related to involuntary deployment of object-mediated space-based attention through two experiments. Experiment 1 used a modified flanker task where a target and nearby distractor were presented within the same or different object frames, such that an object-based attentional spread should be detrimental to performance. Results showed the presence of a flanker effect with no significant difference in magnitude between grouping conditions, indicating participants may have uniformly used a diffused attentional spotlight regardless of object segmentation. In a second experiment, we manipulated the extent of the observer’s sustained attentional scope via an inducer task to determine whether object-based selection depends on the initial spotlight size. The results revealed object-based effects solely when attention narrowly encompassed the target, but not when it was widened to include the distracting flanker. This suggests the deployment of object-based attention may occur when spatial attention is initially focused narrowly. Because selecting the whole object frame directly interfered with task goals, we conclude that object-based attention may not always fully conform to relevant task goals or operate in a goal-oriented manner. We discuss these results in the context of existing literature while proposing a reconciliation of previously inconsistent findings of object-based selection.

Preserved sensory processing but hampered conflict detection when stimulus input is task-irrelevant.

Conflict detection in sensory input is central to adaptive human behavior. Perhaps unsurprisingly, past research has shown that conflict may even be detected in the absence of conflict awareness, suggesting that conflict detection is an automatic process that does not require attention. To test the possibility of conflict processing in the absence of attention, we manipulated task relevance and response overlap of potentially conflicting stimulus features across six behavioral tasks. Multivariate analyses on human electroencephalographic data revealed neural signatures of conflict only when at least one feature of a conflicting stimulus was attended, regardless of whether that feature was part of the conflict, or overlaps with the response. In contrast, neural signatures of basic sensory processes were present even when a stimulus was completely unattended. These data reveal an attentional bottleneck at the level of objects, suggesting that object-based attention is a prerequisite for cognitive control operations involved in conflict detection.

Object-based attention prioritizes working memory contents at a theta rhythm.

Attention selects relevant information regardless of whether it is physically present or internally stored in working memory. Perceptual research has shown that attentional selection of external information is better conceived as rhythmic prioritization than as stable allocation. Here we tested this principle using information processing of internal representations held in working memory. Participants memorized 4 spatial positions that formed the end points of 2 objects. One of the positions was cued for a delayed match-nonmatch test. When uncued positions were probed, participants responded faster to uncued positions located on the same object as the cued position than to those located on the other object, revealing object-based attention in working memory. Manipulating the interval between cue and probe at a high temporal resolution revealed that reaction times oscillated at a theta rhythm of 6 Hz. Moreover, oscillations showed an antiphase relationship between memorized but uncued positions on the same versus other object as the cued position, suggesting that attentional prioritization fluctuated rhythmically in an object-based manner. Our results demonstrate the highly rhythmic nature of attentional selection in working memory. Moreover, the striking similarity between rhythmic attentional selection of mental representations and perceptual information suggests that attentional oscillations are a general mechanism of information processing in human cognition. These findings have important implications for current, attention-based models of working memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Are you looking at me? Impact of eye contact on object-based attention.

Eye contact plays an important role in social interaction and can capture and hold attention. However, it is unclear whether and how objects that can also guide attentional allocation interact with eye contact in guiding attention. Therefore, the current study adapted a well-established two-rectangle paradigm and used faces depicting different gaze directions (direct and averted) or rectangles overlaid with eyes as stimuli. In Experiment 1, we simultaneously presented two faces (one direct gaze, one averted gaze) to participants, manipulating cue location (direct-gaze face, averted-gaze face). The results revealed a larger object-based effect when the cue appeared on the direct-gaze face compared to the averted-gaze face. In Experiment 2, inverted faces were presented, and the results mirrored those of Experiment 1. Interestingly, rectangles overlaid with eyes were presented in Experiment 3, and the results showed that the object-based effect was larger when the cue appeared on the direct-gaze rectangle compared to the averted-gaze rectangle. These findings suggest that eye contact can interact with objects in guiding attention and that this effect is not reliant on the presence of the face. Our results can support attentional prioritization theory and may provide a new approach for diagnosing social-cognitive impairments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Does the presence of more features in a bound representation in working memory require extra object-based attention?

Recent studies have examined the role of attention in retaining bound representations in working memory (WM) and found that object-based attention plays a pivotal role. However, no study has investigated whether maintaining bound representations with more features in WM requires extra object-based attention. We investigated this by examining whether a secondary task consuming object-based attention was more disruptive to the maintenance of bindings in WM when more features were stored per object. We instructed participants to memorize three bound representations in a WM task while manipulating the number of features (two vs. three features) contained in each representation. Moreover, we manipulated whether a secondary task consuming object-based attention was interpolated into the maintenance phase of WM. If extra object-based attention was required after the addition of an extra feature in the bound representation, the secondary task would result in a greater disruption of the three- rather than two-featured binding. In two experiments, we found that the added secondary task significantly impaired the binding performance, but the performance of the two- and three-featured bindings was disrupted to the same extent. These results suggest that the presence of more features in a bound representation in WM does not require extra object-based attention.

Attention can operate on object representations in visual sensory memory.

Numerous studies have shown that attention can be allocated to various types of objects, such as low-level objects developed by perceptual organization and high-level objects developed by semantic associations. However, little is known about whether attention can also be affected solely by object representations in the brain, after the disappearance of physical objects. Here, we used a modified double-rectangle paradigm to investigate how attention is affected by object representation in visual sensory memory when the physical objects disappear for a short period of time before the target onset. By manipulating the interstimulus interval (ISI) between the offset of the objects and the onset of the target, an object-based attention effect, with shorter reaction times (RTs) for within-object relative to between-object conditions, was observed in the short-ISI (within 500 ms in Experiments 1a, 1b, 2, and 3) conditions while disappearing in the long-ISI (800 ms in Experiment 4) conditions. This result demonstrated that the mere presence of object representation in visual sensory memory, or the sensory memory-maintained object, can serve as an object unit that attention can operate on. This provides evidence for the relationship between object-based attention and visual sensory memory: object representation in visual sensory memory could affect attentional allocation, or attention can operate on a sensory memory-maintained object.

Attentional shift within and between faces: Evidence from children with and without a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

Evidence of attentional atypicalities for faces in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are far from being confirmed. Using eye-tracking technology we compared space-based and object-based attention in children with, and without, a diagnosis of ASD. By capitalizing on Egly's paradigm, we presented two objects (2 faces and their phase-scrambled equivalent) and cued a location in one of the two objects. Then, a target appeared at the same location as the cue (Valid condition), or at a different location within the same object (Same Object condition), or at a different location in another object (Different Object condition). The attentional benefit/cost in terms of time for target detection in each of the three conditions was computed. The findings revealed that target detection was always faster in the valid condition than in the invalid condition, regardless of the type of stimulus and the group of children. Thus, no difference emerged between the two groups in terms of space-based attention. Conversely the two groups differed in object-based attention. Children without a diagnosis of ASD showed attentional shift cost with phase-scrambled stimuli, but not with faces. Instead, children with a diagnosis of ASD deployed similar attentional strategies to focus on faces and their phase-scrambled version.

Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in a Perinatal Nicotine Exposure Mouse Model of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increases the risk for concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). At the same time, recommendations for the management of ADHD include participation in sports and other organized physical activities, including those that carry an increased risk of mTBI. Very little work has been done to determine the extent to which untreated ADHD adversely impacts behavioral outcomes of repeated mild concussions. Here, we used a perinatal nicotine exposure (PNE) mouse model of ADHD combined with a closed-head, repetitive mTBI model. The PNE mouse model carries significant construct, face, and predictive validity as a preclinical model of ADHD. Two-month-old PNE and control mice were subjected to closed-head repetitive mTBI or sham procedure once daily for 5 days. Object-based attention, novel object recognition memory, spatial working memory, and depression-like behavior were analyzed 1 day and 2 weeks following repeated mTBI. Consistent with our previous reports, mice in the PNE group showed significant deficits in object-based attention and working memory prior to mTBI. These deficits persisted following the repeated mTBI. Repeated mTBI produced a transient attention deficit in the control group but did not exacerbate the attention deficit that is characteristic of the PNE group. Although neither PNE nor repetitive mTBI alone influenced immobility in the tail suspension test, when PNE mice were subjected to mTBI, there was a transient increase in this measurement suggesting a synergistic effect of ADHD and mTBI on depression-like behavior. Thus, our data using the PNE mouse model suggest that ADHD may be a risk factor for transient depression following repeated mTBI and that repeated mTBI may be a risk factor for transient attention deficit.