The attentional white bear phenomenon: the mandatory allocation of attention to expected distractor locations

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance
Yehoshua Tsal, Tal Makovski

Abstract

The authors devised a prestimulus-probe method to assess the allocation of attention as a function of participants' top-down expectancies concerning distractor and target locations. Participants performed the flanker task, and distractor locations remained fixed. On some trials, instead of the flanker display, either 2 simultaneous dots or a horizontal line appeared. The dot in the expected distractor location was perceived to occur before the dot in the expected empty location, and the line appeared to extend from the expected distractor location to the expected empty location, suggesting that attention is allocated to expected distractor locations prior to stimulus onset. The authors propose that a process-all mechanism guides attention to expected locations of all stimuli regardless of task demands and that this constitutes a major cause for failures of selective attention.

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Citations

Apr 4, 2012·Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance·Jason T AritaGeoffrey F Woodman
Feb 22, 2013·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Aya Lahav, Yehoshua Tsal
Feb 11, 2012·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Aya LahavYehoshua Tsal
Aug 16, 2012·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Jeff Moher, Howard E Egeth
Jun 22, 2011·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Jeff MoherVeit Stuphorn
May 9, 2014·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Khena M Swallow, Yuhong V Jiang
Sep 1, 2009·Acta Psychologica·Rémi GaudreaultFrançoise Macar
Nov 15, 2013·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Serje RobidouxDerek Besner
May 27, 2016·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Andrew B LeberRyan J O'Toole
Jun 29, 2016·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Ashley JollieAndrew S Jamieson
Jan 1, 2009·Perception·Brenda Ocampo, Ada Kritikos
Feb 20, 2016·Psychological Science·Corbin A Cunningham, Howard E Egeth
Mar 20, 2016·Psychological Science·Rotem Avital-Cohen, Yehoshua Tsal
May 12, 2018·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Kevin Dent, Geoff G Cole
Jul 2, 2014·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Shai Gabay, Marlene Behrmann
Aug 17, 2019·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience·Ingmar E J de VriesChristian N L Olivers
Nov 14, 2018·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Brad T Stilwell, Shaun P Vecera
Dec 28, 2018·Psychological Research·Ondřej HavlíčekAgnieszka Wykowska
Jan 24, 2020·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Owen J Adams, Nicholas Gaspelin
Jun 4, 2019·Perception·Cary StothartTimothy J Wright
Jun 12, 2019·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Brandon K AshinoffCarmel Mevorach
Feb 24, 2021·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Changrun HuangMieke Donk

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