Journal
ATTENTION PERCEPTION & PSYCHOPHYSICS
Volume 84, Issue 6, Pages 1964-1981Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02483-6
Keywords
Visual attention; Visual search; Learned distractor rejection; Distractor suppression
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Target templates stored in visual memory can guide visual attention and learned distractor rejection is achieved through proactive attentional control. The current study found that observers adopted a proactive attentional control setting to avoid distraction whenever possible, and were able to recover quickly when distraction occurred.
Target templates stored in visual memory guide visual attention toward behaviorally relevant target objects. Visual attention also is guided away from nontarget distractors by longer-term learning, a phenomenon termed learned distractor rejection. Template guidance and learned distractor rejection can occur simultaneously to further increase search efficiency. However, the underlying processes guiding learned distractor rejection are unknown. In two visual search experiments employing eye-tracking, we tested between two plausible processes: proactive versus reactive attentional control. Participants searched through two-color, spatially unsegregated displays. Participants could guide attention by both target templates and consistent nontarget distractors. We observed fewer distractor fixations (including the first eye movement) and shorter distractor dwell times. The data supported a single mechanism of learned distractor rejection, whereby observers adopted a learned, proactive attentional control setting to avoid distraction whenever possible. Further, when distraction occurred, observers rapidly recovered. We term this proactive mechanism learned oculomotor avoidance. The current study informs theories of visual attention by demonstrating the underlying processes leading to learned distractor suppression during strong target guidance.
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