Spatial distance of target locations affects the time course of both endogenous and exogenous attentional deployment.

Abstract

Spatial attention can be deployed exogenously, based on salient events in the environment, or endogenously, based on current task goals. Numerous studies have compared the time courses of these two types of attention, and have demonstrated that exogenous attention is fast and transient and endogenous attention is relatively slow but sustained. In the present study we investigated whether and how the temporal dynamics of exogenous and endogenous attention differ in terms of where attention is deployed in the visual field, in particular at locations nearby or far from fixation. Across a series experiments, we measured attentional shift times for each type of attention, and found overall slower deployment of endogenous relative to exogenous attention, in line with previous research. Importantly, we also consistently found that it takes longer to deploy attention at more distant locations relative to nearby locations, regardless of how attention was instigated. Overall, our results suggest that the temporal limits of attentional deployment across different spatial distances are similar for exogenous and endogenous attention, pointing to shared constraints underlying both attentional modes.