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Over the past 30 years, researchers have used symbolic cues such as spatial words and arrows to direct observers' attention to the location of target objects that appear at a single, fixed distance in simple visual environments; however, they have done so by using symbolic cues that provide only partial—directional—information about the spatial location of target objects. Thus, it remains unclear whether observers can only shift their attention broadly in the cued direction in response to these cues or whether they can shift their attention to the specific location of the target by combining an expectation about direction (derived from apprehension of the directional cue) with an expectation about distance (derived from some extra-symbolic cue). The results of two experiments showed that observers do shift their attention to relatively coarse spatial locations by combining expectancies about direction and distance, and that the extent to which observers do so is modulated by the presence of visible markers and the expected distance of the target. These findings are important because they provide the first evidence that extra-symbolic information about distance contributes to the symbolic control of spatial attention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Shifts of attention that are directed by spatial words are thought to be mediated by a spatial frame of reference. Previous studies have documented a selection cost when visual attention is directed along the left/right axis relative to the above/below axis due to the greater ambiguity of the horizontal endpoints. The present study investigated whether the horizontal endpoints may be more fully disambiguated when 'left/right' cues are first enacted by nondivisible, more discrete, modes of orienting such as directional motor responses. This issue was investigated using a repetition priming paradigm in which the effects of prior enactments were measured on the subsequent conceptual control of visual attention. The results of four experiments showed that grounding spatial language in the motor system can enhance the focus of visual attention by disambiguating the endpoints of the horizontal axis. In so doing, the present study extends previous research demonstrating that spatial concepts can influence the spatial distribution of attention by demonstrating that different modes of orienting can also influence the semantics of space. Implications for the premotor theory of attention and grounded theories of cognition are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]