Conjunction search: Can we simultaneously bias attention to features and relations?

Becker, Stefanie I.; Atalla, Marina; Folk, Charles L.

doi:10.3758/s13414-019-01807-3

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 67 publications

(175 reference statements)

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“…However, these benefits were quite small and not reliable across all conditions, which indicates no severe limitations in tuning attention to two different targets. With this, the present study is more aligned with the results of previous studies showing that (covert) attention can be tuned simultaneously to two different target features (e.g., Becker, Atalla, & Folk, 2020; Grubert & Eimer, 2015, 2016; Irons et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Collectively, previous studies show a preference for a relational search over feature-specific search, across multiple different target features and dimensions (e.g., color, shape, luminance, and size; Becker, 2010a, 2013a, 2013b; Schönhammer, Grubert, Kerzel, & Becker, 2016), and also in conjunction search tasks (e.g., Becker, Harris, et al, 2017, 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 53%

“…In the natural environment, tuning attention to the relative feature may still confer benefits, because the exact feature value of items varies (e.g., due to differences in the lighting conditions, or changes in perspective or distance to objects), whereas the relative features of objects are relatively constant and, thus, allow locating a sought-after object in a wider range of conditions. In line with this possibility, subsequent studies established that top-down tuning to the relative target feature generalizes to other dimensions to guide attention in search for luminance, size, and shape (e.g., Becker, 2010aBecker, , 2013aBecker, , 2013b, and even in search for conjunction stimuli (Becker, Atalla, & Folk, 2020;Becker, Harris, et al, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 83%

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Dual target search: Attention tuned to relative features, both within and across feature dimensions.

York¹,

Sewell²,

Becker³

2020

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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Current models of attention propose that we can tune attention in a top-down controlled manner to a specific feature value (e.g., shape, color) to find specific items (e.g., a red car; feature-specific search). However, subsequent research has shown that attention is often tuned in a context-dependent manner to the relative features that distinguish a sought-after target from other surrounding nontarget items (e.g., larger, bluer, and faster; relational search). Currently, it is unknown whether search will be feature-specific or relational in search for multiple targets with different attributes. In the present study, observers had to search for 2 targets that differed either across 2 stimulus dimensions (color, motion; Experiment 1) or within the same stimulus dimension (color; Experiment 2: orange/redder or aqua/bluer). We distinguished between feature-specific and relational search by measuring eye movements to different types of irrelevant distractors (e.g., relatively matching vs. feature-matching). The results showed that attention was biased to the 2 relative features of the targets, both across different feature dimensions (i.e., motion and color) and within a single dimension (i.e., 2 colors; bluer and redder). The results were not due to automatic intertrial effects (dimension weighting or feature priming), and we found only small effects for valid precueing of the target feature, indicating that relational search for two targets was conducted with relative ease. This is the first demonstration that attention is top-down biased to the relative target features in dual target search, which shows that the relational account generalizes to multiple target search.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

mentioning

confidence: 53%

mentioning

confidence: 83%

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Dual target search: Attention tuned to relative features, both within and across feature dimensions.

York¹,

Sewell²,

Becker³

2020

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

Self Cite

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“…Previous studies had already shown that attention is tuned to the relative feature of the target, and not an optimal feature value or the target feature value in the spatial cueing paradigm (e.g., Becker et al, 2010 , 2013 , 2017 ; Becker, Atalla & Folk, in press ; Harris et al, 2013 ; Schoenhammer et al, 2016 ). Moreover, previous visual search studies demonstrated that a relatively matching distractor captures attention and the gaze more strongly than a target-similar distractor, both when the colors vary along the red-yellow dimension (e.g., Becker, 2010 ; Becker et al, 2014 ) and when they vary along the green-blue dimension ( Martin & Becker, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Top-down modulation of gaze capture: Feature similarity, optimal tuning, or tuning to relative features?

York

Becker

2020

Journal of Vision

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It is well-known that we can tune attention to specific features (e.g., colors). Originally, it was believed that attention would always be tuned to the exact feature value of the sought-after target (e.g., orange). However, subsequent studies showed that selection is often geared towards target-dissimilar items, which was variably attributed to (1) tuning attention to the relative target feature that distinguishes the target from other items in the surround (e.g., reddest item; relational tuning), (2) tuning attention to a shifted target feature that allows more optimal target selection (e.g., reddish orange; optimal tuning), or (3) broad attentional tuning and selection of the most salient item that is still similar to the target (combined similarity/saliency). The present study used a color search task and assessed gaze capture by differently coloured distractors to distinguish between the three accounts. The results of the first experiment showed that a very target-dissimilar distractor that matched the relative color of the target but was outside of the area of optimal tuning still captured very strongly. As shown by a control condition and a control experiment, bottom-up saliency modulated capture only weakly, ruling out a combined similarity-saliency account. With this, the results support the relational account that attention is tuned to the relative target feature (e.g., reddest), not an optimal feature value or the target feature. Top-down tuning mechanisms Several different mechanisms have been proposed to explain how exactly attention is top-down tuned to a known target feature. Among the first theories of

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“…We suggest that observers fixated mostly on more sharp areas, as is also evident from the data (PropFixInAOI), and did not need to adjust their fixation duration significantly. It is important to note that the task nature and the type of search target also play a role in fixation duration [12,71,80]. In the current study, the search target was a simple Gabor-cross in contrast to some sophisticated objects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Saliency-Aware Subtle Augmentation Improves Human Visual Search Performance in VR

Lukashova-Sanz

Wahl

2021

Brain Sciences

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Visual search becomes challenging when the time to find the target is limited. Here we focus on how performance in visual search can be improved via a subtle saliency-aware modulation of the scene. Specifically, we investigate whether blurring salient regions of the scene can improve participant’s ability to find the target faster when the target is located in non-salient areas. A set of real-world omnidirectional images were displayed in virtual reality with a search target overlaid on the visual scene at a pseudorandom location. Participants performed a visual search task in three conditions defined by blur strength, where the task was to find the target as fast as possible. The mean search time, and the proportion of trials where participants failed to find the target, were compared across different conditions. Furthermore, the number and duration of fixations were evaluated. A significant effect of blur on behavioral and fixation metrics was found using linear mixed models. This study shows that it is possible to improve the performance by a saliency-aware subtle scene modulation in a challenging realistic visual search scenario. The current work provides an insight into potential visual augmentation designs aiming to improve user’s performance in everyday visual search tasks.

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Conjunction search: Can we simultaneously bias attention to features and relations?

Cited by 11 publications

References 67 publications

Dual target search: Attention tuned to relative features, both within and across feature dimensions.

Dual target search: Attention tuned to relative features, both within and across feature dimensions.

Top-down modulation of gaze capture: Feature similarity, optimal tuning, or tuning to relative features?

Saliency-Aware Subtle Augmentation Improves Human Visual Search Performance in VR

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