Mechanisms of spatial contextual cueing in younger and older adults

Kojouharova, Petia; Nagy, Boglárka; Czigler, István; Gaál, Zsófia Anna

doi:10.1111/psyp.14361

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 94 publications

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“…The contextual cueing effect has been established in many studies over the last 25 years (for an overview, see Jiang and Sisk, 2019). The effect has been demonstrated across the lifespan (Merrill et al, 2013; but see also Kojouharova et al, 2023). Context learning also occurs using naturalistic scenes as stimuli and images of realworld objects (Makovski, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of task-irrelevant objects in spatial contextual cueing

von Mühlenen,

Conci

2024

Front. Cognit.

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During visual search, the spatial configuration of the stimuli can be learned when the same displays are presented repeatedly, thereby guiding attention more efficiently to the target location (contextual cueing effect). This study investigated how the presence of a task-irrelevant object influences the contextual cueing effect. Experiment 1 used a standard T/L search task with “old” display configurations presented repeatedly among “new” displays. A green-filled square appeared at unoccupied locations within the search display. The results showed that the typical contextual cueing effect was strongly reduced when a square was added to the display. In Experiment 2, the contextual cueing effect was reinstated by simply including trials where the square could appear at an occupied location (i.e., underneath the search stimuli). Experiment 3 replicated the previous experiment, showing that the restored contextual cueing effect did not depend on whether the square was actually overlapping with a stimulus or not. The final two experiments introduced a display change in the last epoch. The results showed that the square does not only hinder the acquisition of contextual information but also its manifestation. These findings are discussed in terms of an account where effective contextual learning depends on whether the square is perceived as part of the search display or as part of the display background.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of task-irrelevant objects in spatial contextual cueing

von Mühlenen,

Conci

2024

Front. Cognit.

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Auditory change detection and visual selective attention: association between MMN and N2pc

Kong,

Zhao,

et al. 2024

Cerebral Cortex

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While the auditory and visual systems each provide distinct information to our brain, they also work together to process and prioritize input to address ever-changing conditions. Previous studies highlighted the trade-off between auditory change detection and visual selective attention; however, the relationship between them is still unclear. Here, we recorded electroencephalography signals from 106 healthy adults in three experiments. Our findings revealed a positive correlation at the population level between the amplitudes of event-related potential indices associated with auditory change detection (mismatch negativity) and visual selective attention (posterior contralateral N2) when elicited in separate tasks. This correlation persisted even when participants performed a visual task while disregarding simultaneous auditory stimuli. Interestingly, as visual attention demand increased, participants whose posterior contralateral N2 amplitude increased the most exhibited the largest reduction in mismatch negativity, suggesting a within-subject trade-off between the two processes. Taken together, our results suggest an intimate relationship and potential shared mechanism between auditory change detection and visual selective attention. We liken this to a total capacity limit that varies between individuals, which could drive correlated individual differences in auditory change detection and visual selective attention, and also within-subject competition between the two, with task-based modulation of visual attention causing within-participant decrease in auditory change detection sensitivity.

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Investigating the Effect of Contextual Cueing with Face Stimuli on Electrophysiological Measures in Younger and Older Adults

Nagy,

Kojouharova,

Protzner

et al. 2024

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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Extracting repeated patterns from our surroundings plays a crucial role in contextualizing information, making predictions and guiding our behavior implicitly. Previous research showed that contextual cueing enhances visual search performance in younger adults. In this study, we investigated whether contextual cueing could also improve older adults' performance and whether age-related differences in the neural processes underlying implicit contextual learning could be detected. Twenty-four younger and 25 older participants performed a visual search task with contextual cueing. Contextual information was generated using repeated face configurations alongside random new configurations. We measured RT difference between new and repeated configurations; ERPs to uncover the neural processes underlying contextual cueing for early (N2pc), intermediate (P3b), and late (r-LRP) processes; and multiscale entropy and spectral power density analyses to examine neural dynamics. Both younger and older adults showed similar contextual cueing benefits in their visual search efficiency at the behavioral level. In addition, they showed similar patterns regarding contextual information processing: Repeated face configurations evoked decreased finer timescale entropy (1–20 msec) and higher frequency band power (13–30 Hz) compared with new configurations. However, we detected age-related differences in ERPs: Younger, but not older adults, had larger N2pc and P3b components for repeated compared with new configurations. These results suggest that contextual cueing remains intact with aging. Although attention- and target-evaluation-related ERPs differed between the age groups, the neural dynamics of contextual learning were preserved with aging, as both age groups increasingly utilized more globally grouped representations for repeated face configurations during the learning process.

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Mechanisms of spatial contextual cueing in younger and older adults

Cited by 5 publications

References 94 publications

The effect of task-irrelevant objects in spatial contextual cueing

The effect of task-irrelevant objects in spatial contextual cueing

Auditory change detection and visual selective attention: association between MMN and N2pc

Investigating the Effect of Contextual Cueing with Face Stimuli on Electrophysiological Measures in Younger and Older Adults

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