Can we perceive two colors at the same time? A direct test of Huang and Pashler’s (2007) Boolean map theory of visual attention

Abstract

Can observers access two spatially separated color targets (e.g., red and green) at the same time (i.e., in parallel)? According to the Boolean map theory of visual attention (Huang & Pashler, Psychological Review, 114(3), 599-631, 2007), access to two different features that belong to the same dimension (e.g., red and green targets) is limited and therefore can be held only in a serial fashion. The current study proposes a strong test of the Boolean map theory of attention through the application of two of the most rigorous stochastic approaches to response times modeling-the system factorial technology (Townsend & Nozawa, 1995) and the logical rule models (Fifić, Little, & Nosofsky, Psychological Review, 117, 309-348, 2010). These approaches allowed identification of serial, parallel, and coactive architectures in the processing of multicolor targets. The results showed that multiple-color targets are processed serially when observers are required to process all the targets in the display (i.e., an exhaustive stopping rule), and in parallel or coactively when observers can terminate the search when one of the targets is found (i.e., self-terminating stopping rule). These results are generally inconsistent with predictions of the Boolean map theory. They highlight the role of stopping rules in multicolor visual search, as well as the flexibility of the attentional system in shifting between processing architectures.

When two faces are not better than one: Serial limited-capacity processing with redundant-target faces

“…It should be noted though that this dichotomy has been recently questioned. Several studies have shown that color target does require attention and that it is processed serially (Fitousi, 2019a;Wolfe & Horowitz, 2017).…”

Decomposing the composite face effect: Evidence for non-holistic processing based on the ex-Gaussian distribution

“…Strong evidence for the absence of information integration in composite faces comes from application of the redundant target task (Miller, 1982) and the system factorial technology (SFT, Townsend & Nozawa, 1995) to composite faces (Fitousi, 2015; see also Cheng, McCarthy, Wang, Palmeri & Little, 2018). The SFT is a powerful mathematical theory accompanied by a set of methodological tools capable of diagnosing fundamental processing characteristics (Fitousi, 2019a; Fitousi & Algom, 2018, 2019). The SFT affords qualitative and quantitative identification of the underlying processing system (serial, parallel, or coactive).…”

Selection history modulates the limit of visual awareness in color perception

“…However, there have also been studies that have shown different results (e.g., Fitousi, 2019;Hao et al, 2018;Mance et al, 2012;Miller et al, 2014). Using a paradigm similar but not identical to that in , Mance et al found equivalent performance in a color task between the simultaneous and sequential conditions when the target stimuli consisted of two colors.…”