Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Biggs, Adam T
• Gibson, Bradley S
• Gauthier, Isabel

Titel

Opening the Window: Size of the Attentional Window Dominates Perceptual Load and Familiarity in Visual Selection

Ist Teil von

• Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance, 2018-11, Vol.44 (11), p.1780-1798

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Psychological Association

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Quelle

Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Perceptual load theory (Lavie, 1995) claims that visual selection is determined both by the perceptual demands a display imposes and by the perceptual resources an observer has available for processing. This theory is often tested by examining distractor interference in modified flanker tasks, which separate potential target locations from distractor locations and allow researchers to measure distractor processing. Although this task has provided significant insight into cognitive processing, it may also be an example of how a given task obscures potentially important experimental factors. Specifically, the structure of the target array could encourage observers to adopt a narrow attentional window, which could eliminate distractor interference as significant distractor processing has been shown to occur inside but not outside the attentional window (Belopolsky, Zwaan, Theeuwes, & Kramer, 2007). The present experiments included conditions that allowed the target to vary among the same locations as within a structured target array but varied possible nontarget locations that never overlapped with possible target locations. Whenever nontarget items remained in fixed locations, significant distractor processing occurred due to the observer adopting a wide attentional window even under high perceptual load conditions (Experiment 1). Further evidence showed that familiarity with these locations could not explain the interference (Experiment 2A). However, imposing a ring around the target array, similar to what a circular target array might impose, narrowed the attentional window and eliminated distractor interference (Experiment 2B). Thus, the size of the attentional window is capable of dominating both perceptual load and familiarity in visual selection. Public Significance Statement Attention can be impacted by numerous factors, which often makes it difficult to determine where people will direct their attention and what information they will process. One leading theory suggests that the information processed depends in part upon the complexity of the display. Here we examined whether display complexity interacted with additional factors such as familiarity. For example, you might not process two visual scenes the same way if one is a generic kitchen scene and the other scene represents your kitchen at home. Our findings do indicate that the more familiar scenario is processed differently. People tend to adopt a wider attentional window in a more familiar environment, which can make them more vulnerable to distractors or more likely to notice new aspects of the display. This study highlights the importance of context in determining what information is processed within a scene because different people will process different information.