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All set, indeed! N2pc components reveal simultaneous attentional control settings for multiple target colors

Grubert, A.; Eimer, M.

All set, indeed! N2pc components reveal simultaneous attentional control settings for multiple target colors Thumbnail


Authors

M. Eimer



Abstract

To study whether top-down attentional control processes can be set simultaneously for different visual features, we employed a spatial cueing procedure to measure behavioral and electrophysiological markers of task-set contingent attentional capture during search for targets defined by 1 or 2 possible colors (one-color and two-color tasks). Search arrays were preceded by spatially nonpredictive color singleton cues. Behavioral spatial cueing effects indicative of attentional capture were elicited only by target-matching but not by distractor-color cues. However, when search displays contained 1 target-color and 1 distractor-color object among gray nontargets, N2pc components were triggered not only by target-color but also by distractor-color cues both in the one-color and two-color task, demonstrating that task-set nonmatching items attracted attention. When search displays contained 6 items in 6 different colors, so that participants had to adopt a fully feature-specific task set, the N2pc to distractor-color cues was eliminated in both tasks, indicating that nonmatching items were now successfully excluded from attentional processing. These results demonstrate that when observers adopt a feature-specific search mode, attentional task sets can be configured flexibly for multiple features within the same dimension, resulting in the rapid allocation of attention to task-set matching objects only.

Citation

Grubert, A., & Eimer, M. (2016). All set, indeed! N2pc components reveal simultaneous attentional control settings for multiple target colors. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 42(8), 1215-1230. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000221

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 7, 2016
Online Publication Date Aug 1, 2016
Publication Date Aug 1, 2016
Deposit Date Jan 18, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
Print ISSN 0096-1523
Electronic ISSN 1939-1277
Publisher American Psychological Association
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 42
Issue 8
Pages 1215-1230
DOI https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000221

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