ERIC Number: EJ735404
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Feb
Pages: 14
Abstractor: Author
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ISSN: ISSN-0096-1523
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When Is Search for a Static Target among Dynamic Distractors Efficient?
Pinto, Yair; Olivers, Christian N. L.; Theeuwes, Jan
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, v32 n1 p59-72 Feb 2006
Intuitively, dynamic visual stimuli, such as moving objects or flashing lights, attract attention. Visual search tasks have revealed that dynamic targets among static distractors can indeed efficiently guide attention. The present study shows that the reverse case, a static target among dynamic distractors, allows for relatively efficient selection in certain but not all cases. A static target was relatively efficiently found among distractors that featured apparent motion, corroborating earlier findings. The important new finding was that static targets were equally easily found among distractors that blinked on and off continuously, even when each individual item blinked at a random rate. However, search for a static target was less efficient when distractors abruptly varied in luminance but did not completely disappear. The authors suggest that the division into the parvocellular pathway dealing with static visual information, on the one hand, and the magnocellular pathway common to motion and new object onset detection, on the other hand, allows for efficient filtering of dynamic and static information.
Descriptors: Efficiency, Visual Stimuli, Motion, Attention Control, Visual Measures, Visual Learning, Cognitive Processes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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