Object-based attention without awareness

Norman, Liam J.; Heywood, Charles A.; Kentridge, Robert W.

doi:10.1177/0956797612461449

Object-based attention without awareness

Norman, Liam J.; Heywood, Charles A.; Kentridge, Robert W.

Authors

Dr Liam Norman liam.norman@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor

Charles A. Heywood

Professor Robert Kentridge robert.kentridge@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Attention and awareness are often considered to be related. Some forms of attention can, however, facilitate the processing of stimuli that remain unseen. It is unclear whether this dissociation extends beyond selection on the basis of primitive properties, such as spatial location, to situations in which there are more complex bases for attentional selection. The experiment described here shows that attentional selection at the level of objects can take place without giving rise to awareness of those objects. Pairs of objects were continually masked, which rendered them invisible to participants performing a cued-target-discrimination task. When the cue and target appeared within the same object, discrimination was faster than when they appeared in different objects at the same spatial separation. Participants reported no awareness of the objects and were unable to detect them in a signal-detection task. Object-based attention, therefore, is not sufficient for object awareness.

Citation

Norman, L. J., Heywood, C. A., & Kentridge, R. W. (2013). Object-based attention without awareness. Psychological Science, 24(6), 836-843. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612461449

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Aug 20, 2012
Publication Date	Jun 1, 2013
Deposit Date	Aug 20, 2012
Publicly Available Date	May 21, 2015
Journal	Psychological Science
Print ISSN	0956-7976
Electronic ISSN	1467-9280
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	24
Issue	6
Pages	836-843
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612461449
Keywords	Visual attention, Visual perception.

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Copyright Statement
Norman, Liam J. and Heywood, Charles A. and Kentridge, Robert W. (2013) 'Object-based attention without awareness.', Psychological science., 24 (6). pp. 836-843. Copyright © The Author(s) 2013. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.