Abstract
In these experiments, each stimulus consists of a series of frames, each containing a target digit of one color and a distractor digit of another color. The task is to name the highest digit of the target color. Subjects make fewer errors when successive targets appear at the same location than when they appear at different locations, apparently because they select target objects by using a mechanism that is based on location. When successive targets appear at the same location, there is no need to “move” the selection mechanism to a new location, leaving more time to identify the stimuli. These experiments show that location-based selection is used even though selection by color would be more direct. They also demonstrate a method of measuring location-based selection that can be applied to a variety of visual tasks. Further experiments reveal that although location-based selection is used to identify a digit in the presence of a digit distractor, it is not used to identify a digit in the presence of a letter distractor, suggesting that this selection mechanism is not used in this situation to prevent interference among the basic features making up letters and digits, but to inhibit responses associated with the distractors.
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This research was performed while K.R.C. was a fellow at the Center for Human Information Processing, University of California, San Diego.
This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Training Grant MH-14268, awarded to the Center for Human Information Processing, University of California, San Diego, and by NCA2-225 and NCA2-414 from NASA, N00014-91-J-1735 from ONR, and 1-R29-MH45584-01 from NIMH, awarded to H.P.
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Cave, K.R., Pashler, H. Visual selection mediated by location: Selecting successive visual objects. Perception & Psychophysics 57, 421–432 (1995). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03213068
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03213068