Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance
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J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform · May 2018
Optimal task-sets override attentional capture by rare cues.
Many studies converge on the conclusion that spatially irrelevant precues do not capture attention when cue and target features do not match. However, a recent study reported that rare onset cues captured attention even though observers searched for a nonmatching color target. Hence, attentional capture by rare onsets cues might be cognitively impenetrable (Folk & Remington, 2015). ⋯ Moreover, we examined the previous suggestion that frequency effects are limited to onset cues by presenting rare color cues with nonmatching color targets (Experiment 3). We observed capture by rare color cues, but again, capture could be prevented when a nontarget in the cue color was added to the target display (Experiment 4). Overall, these findings suggest that capture by rare cues can be prevented when the suppressive bias against nontarget features is optimally directed against the cue properties. (PsycINFO Database Record
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J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform · Aug 2016
Configural learning in contextual cuing of visual search.
Two experiments were conducted to explore the role of configural representations in contextual cuing of visual search. Repeating patterns of distractors (contexts) were trained incidentally as predictive of the target location. ⋯ Computational simulations with an elemental associative learning model of contextual cuing demonstrated that purely elemental representations could not account for the results. However, a configural model of associative learning was able to simulate the ordinal pattern of data. (PsycINFO Database Record
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J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform · Feb 2014
Physio-behavioral coupling in a cooperative team task: contributors and relations.
Research indicates that coactors performing cooperative tasks often exhibit spontaneous and unintended similarities in their physiological and behavioral responses--a phenomenon referred to here as physio-behavioral coupling (PBC). The purpose of this research was to identify contributors to PBC; examine relationships between PBC, team performance, and perceived team attributes (e.g., cohesion, trust); and compare a set of time-series measures(cross-correlation [CC], cross-recurrence quantification analysis [CRQA], and cross-fuzzy entropy [CFEn]) in their characterization of PBC across comparisons. To accomplish this, PBC was examined in human postural sway (PS) and cardiac interbeat intervals (IBIs) from dyadic teams performing a fast-paced puzzle task (Quadra--a variant of the video game Tetris). ⋯ Correlation analysis revealed that PBC exhibited negative relationships with team performance and team attributes, which were interpreted to reflect complementary coordination (as opposed to mimicry) during task performance, potentially due to differentiated team roles. Finally, qualitative comparison of time-series measures used to characterize PBC indicated that CRQA percent recurrence and CFEn (both nonlinear measures) settled on mostly analogous characterizations, whereas linear CC did not. The disparity observed between the linear and nonlinear measures highlights underlying computational and interpretational differences between the two families of statistics and supports the use of multiple metrics for characterizing PBC.
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J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform · Jul 2018
The guidance of visual search by shape features and shape configurations.
Representations of target features (attentional templates) guide attentional object selection during visual search. In many search tasks, targets objects are defined not by a single feature but by the spatial configuration of their component shapes. We used electrophysiological markers of attentional selection processes to determine whether the guidance of shape configuration search is entirely part-based or sensitive to the spatial relationship between shape features. ⋯ Target N2pc components were delayed when a reverse distractor was present on the opposite side of the same display, suggesting that early shape-specific attentional guidance processes could not distinguish between targets and reverse distractors. The control of attention then became sensitive to spatial configuration, which resulted in a stronger attentional bias for target objects relative to reverse and partially matching distractors. Results demonstrate that search for target objects defined by the spatial arrangement of their component shapes is initially controlled in a feature-based fashion but can later be guided by templates for spatial configurations. (PsycINFO Database Record
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J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform · Mar 2019
Feature-based statistical regularities of distractors modulate attentional capture.
Ignoring salient distracting information is paramount to efficiently guiding attention during visual search. Learning to reject or suppress these strong sources of distraction leads to more effective visual search for targets. Participants can learn to overcome salient distractors if given reliable search regularities. ⋯ In subsequent experiments we manipulated the frequency of the colors of the color singleton distractors and observed robust increases in capture based on color feature regularities. Despite strong location information, we observed reliable attentional capture attenuation by frequently presented distractor colors. Our results suggest that attentional capture is attenuated by both location and feature information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).