Abstract
Because some features affect the efficiency of visual search even when they are irrelevant to the task, they are thought to capture attention in a stimulus-driven manner. If such attention shifts are stimulus driven, they should be unaffected by reduced resources. We added a concurrent auditory task to a traditional attention capture paradigm and found that capture by an irrelevant, abruptly appearing stimulus (i.e., an onset) was eliminated. In contrast, prioritization of an irrelevant color singleton - a stimulus that at most receives only mild prioritization in this paradigm - was increased under dual-task conditions. These results challenge the hypothesis that attention capture by irrelevant features is stimulus driven. Instead, prioritization depends on and is modulated by the availability of resources.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 662-668 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Psychonomic Bulletin and Review |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2005 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)