Perceptual Learning Induces Persistent Attentional Capture by Nonsalient Shapes

Abstract

Visual attention can be attracted automatically by salient simple features, but whether and how nonsalient complex stimuli such as shapes may capture attention in humans remains unclear. Here, we present strong electrophysiological evidence that a nonsalient shape presented among similar shapes can provoke a robust and persistent capture of attention as a consequence of extensive training in visual search (VS) for that shape. Strikingly, this attentional capture that followed perceptual learning (PL) was evident even when the trained shape was task-irrelevant, was presented outside the focus of top-down spatial attention, and was undetected by the observer. Moreover, this attentional capture persisted for at least 3-5 months after training had been terminated. This involuntary capture of attention was indexed by electrophysiological recordings of the N2pc component of the event-related brain potential, which was localized to ventral extrastriate visual cortex, and was highly predictive of stimulus-specific improvement in VS ability following PL. These findings provide the first evidence that nonsalient shapes can capture visual attention automatically following PL and challenge the prominent view that detection of feature conjunctions requires top-down focal attention.

The fate of unattended stimuli and emotional habituation: Behavioral interference and cortical changes

“…However, the filtering of task-irrelevant stimuli may occur at different stages of processing, and may involve different mechanisms. Recently, it has been shown that the mechanisms subserving attentional orienting are subject to profound and enduring plastic changes based on previous experience (Kelley & Yantis, 2009;Qu, Hillyard, & Ding, 2016), and that habituation can selectively impact attentional processes (Turatto & Pascucci, 2016). Therefore, the perceptual and semantic processing of taskirrelevant stimuli might occur independently of attentive processes 1988;Elliott & Cowan;Gronau, Cohen, & Ben-Shakhar, 2009;Öhman, 1992).…”

On the value-dependence of value-driven attentional capture

“…Without any explicit reward feedback, simply locating a target repeatedly over trials can give rise to attentional biases that mirror value-driven attention (e.g., Kyllingsbaek, Schneider, & Bundesen, 2001; Kyllingsbaek, Van Lommel, Sorensen, & Bundesen, 2014; Qu, Hillyard, & Ding, in press; Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977). It was traditionally thought that such selection history biases require substantial training to develop, typically thousands of trials over multiple days (Kyllingsbaek et al, 2001, 2014; Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977).…”

On the distinction between value-driven attention and selection history: Evidence from individuals with depressive symptoms

“…Following substantial training in localizing a predictable target feature, phenotypically similar attentional biases can be observed without the use of explicit reward feedback (e.g., Kyllingsbaek et al, 2001, 2014; Qu, Hillyard, & Ding, in press; Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977). The training required to observe such attentional biases typically spans several thousand trials over multiple days, much longer than the brief single-session learning that is sufficient to generate value-driven attentional biases following rewarded training.…”