Attentional capture with rapidly changing attentional control settings.

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei-Ching Lien ◽  
Eric Ruthruff ◽  
James C. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Attentional Control Settings

Tracking the Location of Visuospatial Attention in a Contingent Capture Paradigm

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Émilie Leblanc ◽  
David J. Prime ◽  
Pierre Jolicoeur
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Visuospatial Attention ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Contingent Capture ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Distractor Location ◽  
Attentional Control Settings ◽  
Attentional Engagement ◽  
Considerable Controversy

Currently, there is considerable controversy regarding the degree to which top-down control can affect attentional capture by salient events. According to the contingent capture hypothesis, attentional capture by a salient stimulus is contingent on a match between the properties of the stimulus and top-down attentional control settings. In contrast, bottom-up saliency accounts argue that the initial capture of attention is determined solely by the relative salience of the stimulus, and the effect of top-down attentional control is limited to effects on the duration of attentional engagement on the capturing stimulus. In the present study, we tested these competing accounts by utilizing the N2pc event-related potential component to track the locus of attention during an attentional capture task. The results were completely consistent with the contingent capture hypothesis: An N2pc wave was elicited only by distractors that possessed the target-defining attribute. In a second experiment, we expanded upon this finding by exploring the effect of target-distractor similarity on the duration that attention dwells at the distractor location. In this experiment, only distractors possessing the target-defining attribute (color) captured visuospatial attention to their location and the N2pc increased in duration and in magnitude when the capture distractor also shared a second target attribute (category membership). Finally, in three additional control experiments, we replicated the finding of an N2pc generated by distractors, only if they shared the target-defining attribute. Thus, our results demonstrate that attentional control settings influence both which stimuli attract attention and to what extent they are processed.

Coordination of Voluntary and Stimulus-Driven Attentional Control in Human Cortex

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Serences ◽  
Sarah Shomstein ◽  
Andrew B. Leber ◽  
Xavier Golay ◽  
Howard E. Egeth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Voluntary Control ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Human Cortex ◽  
Perceptual Object ◽  
Attentional Control Settings ◽  
Contingent Attentional Capture ◽  
Dynamic Interplay

Visual attention may be voluntarily directed to particular locations or features (voluntary control), or it may be captured by salient stimuli, such as the abrupt appearance of a new perceptual object (stimulus-driven control). Most often, however, the deployment of attention is the result of a dynamic interplay between voluntary attentional control settings (e.g., based on prior knowledge about a target's location or color) and the degree to which stimuli in the visual scene match these voluntary control settings. Consequently, nontarget items in the scene that share a defining feature with the target of visual search can capture attention, a phenomenon termed contingent attentional capture. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to show that attentional capture by target-colored distractors is accompanied by increased cortical activity in corresponding regions of retinotopically organized visual cortex. Concurrent activation in the temporo-parietal junction and ventral frontal cortex suggests that these regions coordinate voluntary and stimulus-driven attentional control settings to determine which stimuli effectively compete for attention.

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