Research article summary (published 29 Sep 2006):

Temporal attentional capture: effects of irrelevant singletons on rapid serial visual search.

Full Abstract

The presence of a unique yet irrelevant singleton in visual search or spatial-cuing tasks is typically associated with performance costs, suggesting that singletons tend to capture attention. However, since singletons have always been spatially separated from targets in previous experiments, it remains unclear whether an irrelevant visual singleton that occurs at the same spatial location as the target but at a different point in time can produce temporal capture of attention. Here, we asked participants to search visual sequences at fixation for targets defined by size (larger or smaller than the nontargets). The presence (vs. absence) of a color singleton lengthened response times on the size discrimination task, suggesting that irrelevant singletons can lead to a temporal attentional capture.

Author information

Author/s: Dalton, Polly (P); Lavie, Nilli (N);

Affiliation: University of Oxford, Oxford, England. polly.dalton(-atsign-)rhul.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psychonomic bulletin & review (Psychon Bull Rev), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Oct; vol 13 (issue 5) : pp 881-5

Dates: Created 2007/03/01; Completed 2007/04/18;

PMID: 17328389, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MeSH Headings (categories) shown below.

Adolescent Adult Attention Color Perception Cues Discrimination Learning Female Fixation, Ocular

Humans Male Orientation Pattern Recognition, Visual Probability Learning Reaction Time Serial Learning Size Perception

Note: Bold headings indicate primary MeSH headings or qualifiers.

Related articles

These are the most related articles currently in our database:

• Precuing benefits for color and location in a visual search task. 30 Jan 2008
• The influence of temporal selection on spatial selection and distractor interference: an attentional blink study. 30 May 2001
• Benefits from attention depend on the target type in location-precued discrimination. 29 Nov 1992
• The contribution of covert attention to the set-size and eccentricity effects in visual search. 30 Mar 1998
• How to say no: single- and dual-process theories of short-term recognition tested on negative probes. 29 Apr 2008
• Heterogeneity effects in visual search predicted from the group scanning model. 29 Nov 1994
• The control of visual attention using multiple target features. 30 Oct 1990
• Strategies of flanker coprocessing in single and dual tasks. 30 Jan 2007
• Gradations of awareness in a modified sequence learning task. 10 Apr 2007
• Effects of preliminary information in a Go versus No-go task. 30 May 1991

See 100+ related articles.

Related Article Map

Legend: - FREE Full text Article. - Abstract only. - Title only. More help.

See a larger map of 100+ related articles.