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

Grubert, A.; Eimer, M.

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: Jan 19, 2017
• 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
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1388129