Basic Shapes Guide Visual Attention Based on Search Goals
- Author(s)
- Markus Gruener, Florian Goller, Ulrich Ansorge
- Abstract
We investigated whether basic shapes can guide visual attention in a goal-directed manner. Participants searched for one specific target shape among different basic shapes (square, diamond, triangle, and pyramid) and reported the color of a dot within the target shape. Before the target display was shown, we presented a matching or nonmatching cue among three circles. The matching cue had the same shape as the target, whereas the nonmatching cue was a hexagon, which was never part of the target display. We found faster reaction times when the matching cue appeared at the same position as the target (valid condition) compared with a different position (invalid condition), suggesting that the matching cue captured attention. However, the nonmatching did not capture attention (same reaction times in the valid and invalid condition), despite being a salient singleton. Results are discussed in terms of top-down contingent-capture theory.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology
- Journal
- Perception
- Volume
- 48
- Pages
- 111-112
- No. of pages
- 2
- ISSN
- 0301-0066
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0301006619863862
- Publication date
- 09-2019
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 501001 General psychology
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/basic-shapes-guide-visual-attention-based-on-search-goals(6d3c4171-db31-44fc-8ee1-1ab07d027a54).html