scholarly journals The effects of perceptual load on semantic processing under inattention

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 864-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mika Koivisto ◽  
Antti Revonsuo
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhihan Guo ◽  
Maolong Niu ◽  
Qi Wang

AbstractFamiliarity effect refers to the phenomenon that searching for a novel target among familiar distractors is more efficient than that searching for a familiar target among novel distractors. While the familiarity of distractors is considered as a key role on familiarity effect, the familiarity of targets contribute to this asymmetric visual search is unclear. The present study investigated how target familiarity influences visual search efficiency from the perspective of perceptual load. Experiment 1 using two similar Chinese characters (“甲” and “由”) suggested that searching for a familiar target from familiar distractors is an inefficient search process in Chinese context. Experiment 2 adopted a dual-task paradigm with a visual working memory task to increase the perceptual load and attempt to affect the efficiency of searching a novel target (mirrored “舌”) from familiar distractors (“舌”). Results demonstrated no difference in the search efficiency between single and dual-task conditions. The present study suggests that the familiarity of target does not influence the search efficiency with familiar distractors when involving semantic processing of Chinese characters. Additionally, the interference of extra working memory load would not impair the efficiency of searching target among familiar distractors, supporting the critical effect of distractor familiarity on the efficiency of visual search.


2002 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 609-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice E. Murray ◽  
Craig Jones

Humphreys and Boucart (1997) have shown that when processing of local form is required for response, surrounding global information is automatically processed to a semantic level. The generality of this effect was investigated in two experiments in which the perceptual load of the relevant local form information was manipulated, as was uncertainty about perceptual load. Participants attended to a single line segment inside a picture of an animal or a vehicle and then decided which of two pictures in the target/distractor display that followed contained a line segment that matched the first in orientation. The perceptual load of the relevant local form information was either low (the matching line segment was one of the solitary line segments presented in the centre of the target and distractor pictures), or high (the matching line segment was part of one of the solitary letters presented in the centre of the target and distractor pictures). The semantic relations among the pictures were manipulated, and when perceptual load remained constant across trials, semantic relations affected performance in the low-load but not in the high-load condition. When perceptual load varied from trial to trial, there was no evidence of any semantic processing on either low- or high-load trials. The results suggest that in form-matching tasks, attentional priority can be given to local information, thus preventing access to semantic information derived from global shape. They further suggest that the distribution of attention is not dictated entirely by the actual perceptual demands of the relevant stimulus, indicating an important role for top-down processing.


2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Leonard ◽  
N. Ferjan Ramirez ◽  
C. Torres ◽  
M. Hatrak ◽  
R. Mayberry ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Torralbo ◽  
Paige Scalf ◽  
Diane Beck ◽  
Arthur F. Kramer

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas W. Gaspelin ◽  
Eric Ruthruff ◽  
Shaun P. Vecera ◽  
Joshua D. Cosman
Keyword(s):  

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