Attending to color and shape: The special role of location in selective visual processing

Tsal, Yehoshua; Lavie, Nilli

doi:10.3758/bf03207469

Cited by 205 publications

(215 citation statements)

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“…Our findings suggest that spatial information is indeed "special" (Tsal & Lavie, 1988), suggesting that top-down expectancy with respect to the location of the upcoming target can modulate neural activity. Even though some fMRI studies have shown that top-down expectancy for nonspatial features may alter neural modulation (e.g., Wojciulik & Kanwisher, 1999;Giesbrecht, Woldorff, Song, & Mangun, 2003), the current findings suggest that this neural modulation does not necessarily influence initial perceptual selection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…However, as pointed out by van der Heijden (1993), these findings do not indicate that nonspatial information is directly used to select information (as, for example, assumed by Bundesen's theory of visual attention, 1990). As shown by van der Heijden (1993), the nonspatial information points to a location in the display (similar to a bar-marker indicating a location); and, ultimately, location is used as a means to select the relevant item (see also, Tsal & Lavie, 1988). Shih and Sperling (1996) came to a similar conclusion.…”

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confidence: 97%

“…Even though it is undisputed that location information improves the detection of signals (e.g., Cave & Pashler, 1995;Kim & Cave, 2001;Lamy & Tsal, 2001;LaBerge, 1981;Posner et al, 1980;Tsal & Lamy, 2000), it is still unclear whether information about nonspatial features has a similar effect. Whereas some studies have provided evidence that prior knowledge regarding nonspatial features had no effect on visual selection (e.g., Cave & Pashler, 1995;Posner et al, 1980;Kim & Cave, 2001;Tsal & Lavie, 1988;Theeuwes, 1989), other studies provided evidence that nonspatial features may improve the entry of information into the brain (e.g., Brawn & Snowden, 1999;Humphreys, 1981;Lambert & Corban, 1992;Laarni, 1999;Lappin & Uttal 1976;Vierck & Miller, 2005).…”

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confidence: 99%

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The role of spatial and nonspatial information in visual selection

Theeuwes¹,

Burg²

2006

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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Even though it is undisputed that prior information regarding the location of a target affects visual selection, the issue of whether information regarding nonspatial features, such as color and shape, has similar effects has been a matter of debate since the early 1980s. In the study described in this article, measures derived from signal detection theory were used to show that perceptual sensitivity is affected by a top-down set for spatial information but not by a top-down set for nonspatial information. This indicates that knowing where the target singleton is affects perceptual selectivity but that knowing what it is does not help selectivity. Furthermore, perceptual sensitivity can be enhanced by nonspatial features, but only through a process related to bottom-up priming. These findings have important implications for models of visual selection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

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confidence: 97%

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confidence: 99%

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The role of spatial and nonspatial information in visual selection

Theeuwes¹,

Burg²

2006

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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“…Although the selection of the dot was based solely on color, reaction times were shorter when the target appeared at the location of the colored dot relative to a different location. Tsal and Lavie (1988;1993) also found that when participants had responded to a target defined by color or shape, and were then encouraged to report as many letters as possible, they were more likely to report the letters that were adjacent to the target rather than those that had the same color or shape as the target. Similar results were observed by Hoffman and Nelson (1981), whose participants showed increased probability to correctly identify a stimulus if it was adjacent to a target that had been successfully recognized.…”

Section: Attention To Location Versus Attention To An Object Featurementioning

confidence: 99%

Selective Attention and the Perception of an Attended Nontarget Object.

Chen¹

2005

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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Although many theories of attention assume that attending to an object results in the processing of all its feature dimensions, there has been no direct evidence that the irrelevant dimensions of an attended nontarget object are encoded. This article explores factors that modulate such processing. In 6 experiments, participants made a speeded response to a probe preceded by a prime that varied in 2 dimensions. Their reaction times to the probe were influenced by the response compatibility between the relevant and irrelevant dimensions of the prime. Furthermore, the effect was observed only when attention was directed to a nonlocation object feature and when participants' reaction times were relatively long. These results suggest that the effect of attention on a nontarget object is more complex than was previously understood.

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“…So, even with a color instruction, position was dominant; after selecting the target letter on the basis of color, subjects went on to select the free-report letters mainly on the basis of position. Tsal and Lavie (1988) concluded that "the direction of attention to a relevant spatial location seems to be a general and mandatory process that takes place irrespective of the dimension according to which the stimulus was initially selected" (p. 19). Paradigm and data do indeed provide strong evidence in favor ofpositionspecial theories.…”

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Attending to color with proper fixation

Heijden

Kurvink

Lange

et al. 1996

Perception & Psychophysics

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In contemporary theorizing, there is a controversy about the role of spatial location in the selection of visual information; some theories postulate that position plays a unique role, whereas other theories hold that position is just one selection dimension that is not different from other dimensions, such as color and shape. In this context, a paradigm introduced by Tsal and Lavie (1988) promised to be of fundamental importance. With that paradigm, Tsal and Lavie found that, after reporting a first letter of a prespecified color, subjects preferred to switch their reporting to letters from array positions adjacent to that letter over continuing to report letters of the same color as that of the first letter. This switch from color to position provided firm evidence in favor of the "position-special" views as opposed to the "all-attributes-are-equal" views. In the present study, six experiments, employing Tsal and Lavie's paradigm and variations of that paradigm, are reported. Experiments 1, 2, 4, and 5 show that evidence for a switch from selection on the basis of color to selection on the basis of position is not obtained when subjects are forced to fixate the fixation point and possibly also not under normal contrast conditions without fixation controls. Experiment 3 shows that switching from color to position is difficult. Experiments 2, 5, and 6 show that evidence for a switch is obtained only under low-contrast conditions when subjects are not forced to fixate the fixation point. It is concluded that the Tsal and Lavieparadigm is an asymmetric paradigm. The results reported by Tsal and Lavie constituted a major threat for the "all-attributes-are-equal" theories and provided firm support for the "position-special" theories. The results reported in the present study are compatible with the all-attributes-are-equal theories, but, at the same time, do not constitute a major threat for the contemporary position-special theories.In 1988, Tsal and Lavie could still write (p. 15) that the role ofstimulus location in the selective processing of visual information had evolved into an implicit controversy; some researchers believed that spatial location played a unique role in the selection of information, whereas others claimed that it was just one selection dimension that was not different in principle from other stimulus dimensions, such as color or shape. Now, less than 10 years later, this implicit controversy has evolved into an explicit controversy (see, e.g., van der Heijden, 1993, for an overview). A brieflook at current theorizing can make this clear. There are two groups of theories: the "position-not-special" ones and the "position-special" ones. Position Not SpecialIn Broadbent's (1958) filter theory for auditory information processing, no special role was ascribed to position. The filter selected auditory information defined by any given physical attribute. ("Physical features identified as able to act as a basis for this selection included the intensity, pitch, and spatial localization of sounds"; Br...

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Attending to color and shape: The special role of location in selective visual processing

Cited by 205 publications

References 28 publications

The role of spatial and nonspatial information in visual selection

The role of spatial and nonspatial information in visual selection

Selective Attention and the Perception of an Attended Nontarget Object.

Attending to color with proper fixation

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