Target-flanker similarity effects reflect image segmentation not perceptual grouping

Moore, Cathleen M.; He, Shan; Zheng, Qingzi; Mordkoff, J. Toby

doi:10.3758/s13414-020-02094-z

Cited by 10 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…Interestingly, the same could be true for the Eriksen flanker tasks in which the irrelevant flankers produce incorrect motor activation (e.g., Mattler, 2003;Servant et al, 2015), but presumably already interfere during perceptual processing, for example, due to perceptual grouping (see Luo & Proctor, 2016;Moore et al, 2021), and/or limits in focusing spatial attention (see Servant et al, 2015). Specifically, using a flanker task with a vertical stimulus arrangement, Mattler (2003) investigated the influence of presenting the irrelevant flankers with different target delays (0, 100, 400 ms) on delta plot slopes.…”

Section: Influence Of Temporal Manipulations On Delta Plotsmentioning

confidence: 91%

The role of temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within conflict tasks.

Mackenzie¹,

Mittelstädt²,

Ulrich³

et al. 2022

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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Conflict tasks are commonly used to investigate control processes under situations of relevant and irrelevant sources of information. In addition to compatibility effects at a mean behavioral level, delta plot analyses of reaction time distributions reveal that the compatibility effect generally increases with time (i.e., positive delta plot slopes) across most conflict-like tasks. Critically, the underlying causes of the increasing delta plot slopes with different types of distractors are still poorly understood. The present study tested whether the relative onset of target-to-distractor processing affects the delta plot slope. Specifically, we manipulated the temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within an Eriksen flanker task (Experiment [Exp.] 1), an Arrow-Simon task (Exp. 2), and a manual Stroop task (Exp. 3a/3b). The results of the Eriksen flanker task and Arrow-Simon task revealed that the delta plots slopes were less increasing (and instead rather decreasing) when the irrelevant dimension appears first (IR condition) compared to the reversed order (RI condition)-consistent with the idea that the underlying mechanism driving the slope of the delta plot is the temporal overlap of activation between the relevant and irrelevant dimensions. In contrast, for the Stroop task, the delta plots in the RI condition were not more increasing than the ones for the IR condition. Overall, these results suggest that the temporal properties strongly influence delta plot shape, but that the temporal dynamics operating in the flanker task and the Arrow-Simon task differs from the Stroop task, at least under conditions where relevant and irrelevant information is presented sequentially. Public Significance StatementIn many real-world situations, people are required to select and process goal-relevant information in environments overloaded with distracting-and potentially conflicting-sources of information. It is important to uncover the mental control mechanisms that prevent interference allowing successful goaldirected behavior for both practical and theoretical reasons. In the present study, we systematically investigated the temporal processing dynamics with different sources of distracting information. The results indicate that some types of distracting information are similarly processed across time whereas others are not, suggesting the existence of distractor-general and distractor-specific control mechanisms.

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Section: Influence Of Temporal Manipulations On Delta Plotsmentioning

confidence: 91%

The role of temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within conflict tasks.

Mackenzie¹,

Mittelstädt²,

Ulrich³

et al. 2022

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The results suggested that directional stimuli make the task more difficult, increasing the interaction between conflict and orienting networks. Moreover, target-flanker similarity could also contribute to an interference or facilitation effect (e.g., Moore et al, 2021 ; Sanders & Lamers, 2002 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the three attentional networks in children from three to six years: A child-friendly version of the Attentional Network Test for Interaction

et al. 2021

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Attention involves three functionally and neuroanatomically distinct neural networks: alerting, orienting, and executive control. This study aimed to analyze the development of attentional networks in children aged between 3 and 6 years using a child-friendly version of the Attentional Network Test for Interaction (ANTI), the ANTI-Birds. The sample included 88 children divided into four age groups: 3-year-old, 4-year-old, 5-year-old, 6-year-old children. The results of this study would seem to indicate that between 4 and 6 years, there are no significant changes in attentional networks. Instead, between 3 and 4 years of age, children significantly improve all their attentional skills.

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“…And stimuli that are grouped together are more likely to be selected together than are stimuli that are not grouped (e.g., Harms & Bundesen, 1983 ; Kahneman & Henik, 1981 ; Treisman, Kahneman, & Burkell, 1983 ; c.f. Moore, He, Zeng, & Mordkoff, 2021 ). Relative spatial proximity alone therefore is an ineffective manipulation for assessing whether a limitation is attributable to processing information from more than one object, more than one location, or both.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divided attention effects in visual search are caused by objects not by space

2022

Self Cite

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Divided attention effects have been observed across a variety of stimuli and perceptual tasks, which have given rise to both object-based and space-based theories of divided attention. Object-based theories assert that processing information from multiple objects is limited, whereas space-based theories assert that processing information from multiple locations is limited. Extant results in the literature are collectively inconsistent with both simple object-based theories and simple space-based theories of divided attention. Using a visual search task with the extended simultaneous-sequential method to reveal capacity limitations, we found evidence of limited-capacity processing of object properties and unlimited-capacity processing of feature contrast. We found no evidence of a separate spatial limitation. A multiple pathway processing theory can account for these and a large body of previous results. According to this theory, tasks that require object processing must follow a limited-capacity pathway and therefore incur divided attention effects. Tasks that depend on only feature contrast can follow a separate unlimited-capacity processing pathway and therefore do not incur divided attention effects.

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Target-flanker similarity effects reflect image segmentation not perceptual grouping

Cited by 10 publications

References 86 publications

The role of temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within conflict tasks.

The role of temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within conflict tasks.

Assessing the three attentional networks in children from three to six years: A child-friendly version of the Attentional Network Test for Interaction

Divided attention effects in visual search are caused by objects not by space

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