Search

Abstract Visual marking, which is based on the assumption that previewing some distractors increases the efficiency of subsequent visual searches, constitutes one of the most efficient inhibitions on visual searches. The preview search task consists of a display of a subset of distractors followed by an additional display containing the remaining distractors and a target. During the preview period, an inhibitory template is thought to be formed, resulting in the prioritization of the subsequently presented items and the inhibition of the previewed items. Although the previous studies have mainly examined the determinants that impair the inhibitory templates resulting in inefficient visual searches, the present study examined the possibility that the template could be updated to increase search efficiency. To this end, we used a preview search task and manipulated the presence of a singleton distractor in the display of the additional items. We examined whether the singleton increased the efficiency of the search performance by determining if the inhibitory template would be updated such that participants would treat the singleton as if it had been previewed. The results demonstrated that the response times were faster with the singleton included, suggesting that an inhibitory template for visual marking could be updated and lead to improved search performance. Highlights • A color singleton distractor among additional items enhanced search performance when visual marking occurred. • A color singleton distractor did not enhance search performance in the ordinary simultaneous search task. • A color singleton distractor among additional items did not enhance search performance when visual marking did not occur. • Only a color cuing did not enhance search performance in the ordinary simultaneous search task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined whether attention can be flexibly controlled to monitor two different feature dimensions (shape and color) in a temporal search task. Specifically, we investigated the occurrence of contingent attentional capture (i.e., interference from task-relevant distractors) and resulting set reconfiguration (i.e., enhancement of single task-relevant set). If observers can restrict searches to a specific value for each relevant feature dimension independently, the capture and reconfiguration effect should only occur when the single relevant distractor in each dimension appears. Participants identified a target letter surrounded by a non-green square or a non-square green frame. The results revealed contingent attentional capture, as target identification accuracy was lower when the distractor contained a target-defining feature than when it contained a nontarget feature. Resulting set reconfiguration was also obtained in that accuracy was superior when the current target's feature (e.g., shape) corresponded to the defining feature of the present distractor (shape) than when the current target's feature did not match the distractor's feature (color). This enhancement was not due to perceptual priming. The present study demonstrated that the principles of contingent attentional capture and resulting set reconfiguration held even when multiple target feature dimensions were monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The allocation of attention is affected by internal emotional states, such as anxiety and depression. The attention captured by real images of negative faces can be quantified by emotional probe tasks. The present study investigated whether attentional bias toward drawings of negative faces (line drawings and cartoon faces) differs from that of real faces. Non-clinical university students indicated their levels of anxiety and depression via self-report questionnaires, and completed a probe discrimination task under three face image conditions in a between-participants design. Significant correlations were found between bias scores and scores on the self-reported BDI-II under the real face condition. However, two types of face drawings were only weakly correlated with self-report scores. In our probe task to investigate attentional bias to facial stimuli in nonclinical adults, the strength of the relationship between depression and attentional bias to negative face was stronger for real faces than for face drawings. • We tested whether attentional bias to negative face drawings (line drawings and cartoons) differed from that of real faces. • Participants who rated themselves as highly depressed showed attentional bias toward negative real faces. • There was no attentional bias toward or away from line drawings or cartoons of negative faces. • We suggested that real faces are more sensitive than drawings for testing attentional bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]