Abstract
Three experiments used a free-choice technique to investigate effects of novelty on selective attention. Ss underwent a habituation phase, during which combinations of spots of one color were presented, and then a test phase, during which spots of the familiar color and a novel color were presented together. Experiment 1 showed that, during the test phase, Ss were more likely to respond to novel stimuli whether manual or verbal responses were performed in both phases. Experiment 2 produced the same effect with different distances between stimuli and the fixation point for the two phases, ruling out retinal adaptation as an explanation. Experiment 3 showed the effect to occur when different responses were performed in the two phases, indicating that it is stimulus-specific.
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This investigation was supported by Research Grant A-73 from the National Research Council of Canada. The data for Experiment 1 were collected by Michael Godkewitsch and those for Experiments 2 and 3 by Elisabeth Godkewitsch.
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Berlyne, D.E. Novelty and attention: Controls for retinal adaptation and for stimulus-response specificity. Psychon Sci 25, 349–351 (1971). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335902
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335902