Abstract

As individuals search for objects during visual search, their attention is guided by the features of the object they are looking for. For example: when searching for an orange, attention is biased to objects in the environment that are round, small, and orange. This attentional guidance is accomplished via a mental representation, aka search template, in visual working memory. A popular debate in this field is whether the features of the template are bound together, as in object guidance, or not, as in feature guidance. Current evidence suggests that feature guidance occurs during the first 250ms of search. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which the shift from a diffuse attentional window to a focused attentional window modulates the shift from feature-based to object-based guidance.

Ten participants searched for two simple targets (e.g. a blue square and green triangle) among distractors that either shared a single feature with one of the targets (a blue circle) or was an incorrect conjunction of both target features (blue triangle). The attentional window was manipulated in two separate blocks of trials. An interaction between attention type and distractor type was found that suggested searchers may use object guidance when they have focused attention. More data is currently being collected with eye tracking technology to further investigate these results.