Exogenous object-centered attention

Theeuwes, Jan; Mathôt, Sebastiaan; Grainger, Jonathan

doi:10.3758/s13414-013-0459-4

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…One reason for its appeal may be the apparent simplicity of the neurophysiology explaining the relationship between new events and orienting: The primate superior colliculus, for example, which helps drive (oculomotor) orienting, is especially sensitive to motion and luminance transients; moreover, the magnitude of capture induced by onset cues correlates with the activity of visuomotor neurons residing in the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus (Fecteau & Munoz, 2005). Given the oculomotor-orienting system's hard-wired sensitivity to transient information, it is easy to understand why researchers treat sensory novelty as the de facto criterion for exogenous orienting (e.g., Theeuwes, Mathôt, & Grainger, 2013), and why orienting is modeled as a response to local differences in bottom-up signals (Itti & Koch, 2000). Crucially, the data here show that not all forms of involuntary orienting are inextricably chained to the locations or center of gravity of new luminance events.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out with the new, in with the old: Exogenous orienting to locations with physically constant stimulation

2018

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Dominant methods of investigating exogenous orienting presume that attention is captured most effectively at locations containing new events. This is evidenced by the ubiquitous use of transient stimuli as cues in the literature on exogenous orienting. In the present study, we showed that attention can be oriented exogenously toward a location containing a completely unchanging stimulus by modifying Posner's landmark exogenous spatial-cueing paradigm. Observers searched a six-element array of placeholder stimuli for an onset target. The target was preceded by a decrement in luminance to five of the six placeholders, such that one location remained physically constant. This "nonset" stimulus (so named to distinguish it from a traditional onsetting transient) acted as an exogenous cue, eliciting patterns of facilitation and inhibition at the nonset location and demonstrating that exogenous orienting is not always evident at the location of a visual transient. This method eliminates the decades-long confounding of orienting to a location with the processing of new events at that location, permitting alternative considerations of the nature of attentional selection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out with the new, in with the old: Exogenous orienting to locations with physically constant stimulation

2018

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“…Ecological explanations for this left-right asymmetry based on image- or scene-based statistics are untenable because light source azimuth, unlike elevation, is not inherently anisotropic. However, since leftward attentional biases have been demonstrated to occur in both space-based (egocentric) and object-based (allocentric) frames of reference (Reuter-Lorenz et al, 1996; Nicholls et al, 2004; Orr and Nicholls, 2005; Pia et al, 2010; Theeuwes et al, 2013), the finding that left-lit cube arrays appear more intensely illuminated than their right-lit counterparts is likely due to the asymmetric (left-biased) distribution of object-based (allocentric) visuospatial attention (Foxe et al, 2003; Orr and Nicholls, 2005; Pia et al, 2010; Chen, 2012). According to this explanation the left halves of individual cubes are more strongly attended than their right halves (allocentric pseudoneglect), making cubes illuminated from the left, whose left halves are more intensely illuminated, appear more intensely illuminated overall than their right-illuminated counterparts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lighting direction and visual field modulate perceived intensity of illumination

2013

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When interpreting object shape from shading the visual system exhibits a strong bias that illumination comes from above and slightly from the left. We asked whether such biases in the perceived direction of illumination might also influence its perceived intensity. Arrays of nine cubes were stereoscopically rendered where individual cubes varied in their 3D pose, but possessed identical triplets of visible faces. Arrays were virtually illuminated from one of four directions: Above-Left, Above-Right, Below-Left, and Below-Right (±24.4° azimuth; ±90° elevation). Illumination intensity possessed 15 levels, resulting in mean cube array luminances ranging from 1.31–3.45 cd/m2. A “reference” array was consistently illuminated from Above-Left at mid-intensity (mean array luminance = 2.38 cd/m2). The reference array's illumination was compared to that of matching arrays which were illuminated from all four directions at all intensities. Reference and matching arrays appeared in the left and right visual field, respectively, or vice versa. Subjects judged which cube array appeared to be under more intense illumination. Using the method of constant stimuli we determined the illumination level of matching arrays required to establish subjective equality with the reference array as a function of matching cube visual field, illumination elevation, and illumination azimuth. Cube arrays appeared significantly more intensely illuminated when they were situated in the left visual field (p = 0.017), and when they were illuminated from below (p = 0.001), and from the left (p = 0.001). An interaction of modest strength was that the effect of illumination azimuth was greater for matching arrays situated in the left visual field (p = 0.042). We propose that objects lit from below appear more intensely illuminated than identical objects lit from above due to long-term adaptation to downward lighting. The amplification of perceived intensity of illumination for stimuli situated in the left visual field and lit from the left is best explained by tonic egocentric and allocentric leftward attentional biases, respectively.

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“…Consistent with this idea, strong positional priming across trials occurs in both world-and object-centered reference frames in color pop-out search tasks (Gokce et al, 2015;Tower-Richardi et al, 2016). Furthermore, in a study without saccades, Theeuwes and colleagues reported a strong spatial cueing effect in both the retinotopic and the object-centered reference frames, supporting that spatial and object-centered systems can coexist for the exogenous orientation of attention (Theeuwes, Mathôt, & Grainger, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Feature-based attention across saccades: Pop-out in color search is spatiotopic

Eymond

Cavanagh

Collins

2018

Atten Percept Psychophys

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Our perception of the world remains stable despite the retinal shifts that occur with each saccade. The role of spatial attention in matching pre-to postsaccadic visual information has been well established, but the role of feature-based attention remains unclear. In this study, we examined the transsaccadic processing of a color pop-out target. Participants made a saccade towards a neutral target and performed a search task on a peripheral array presented once the saccade landed. A similar array was presented just before the saccade and we analyzed what aspect of this preview benefitted the postsaccadic search task. We assessed the preview effect in the spatiotopic and retinotopic reference frames, and the potential transfer of feature selectivity across the saccade. In the first experiment, the target and distractor colors remained identical for the preview and the postsaccadic array and performance improved. The largest benefit was observed at the spatiotopic location. In the second experiment, the target and distractor colors were swapped across the saccade. All responses were slowed but the cost was least at the spatiotopic location. Our results show that the preview attracted spatial attention to the target location, which was then remapped, and suggest that previewed features, specifically colors, were transferred across the saccade. Furthermore, the preview induced a spatiotopic advantage regardless of whether the target switched color or not, suggesting that spatiotopy was established independently of feature processing. Our results support independent priming effects of features versus location and underline the role of featurebased selection in visual stability.

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Exogenous object-centered attention

Cited by 18 publications

References 31 publications

Out with the new, in with the old: Exogenous orienting to locations with physically constant stimulation

Out with the new, in with the old: Exogenous orienting to locations with physically constant stimulation

Lighting direction and visual field modulate perceived intensity of illumination

Feature-based attention across saccades: Pop-out in color search is spatiotopic

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