Examining the activity-distribution model of visual attention with exogenous cues and targets

LaBerge and his co-workers (e.g., LaBerge & Brown, 1986, 1989; LaBerge, Carlson, Williams, & Bunney, 1997) used an experimental method consisting of three rapid successive displays, each requiring a difficult letter discrimination, to show that visual attention is best accounted for with an activity-distribution model rather than a moving-spotlight model. The present study sought to further this line of investigation by inserting exogenous cues and targets, often used in studies that have found support for the moving-spotlight model, into the basic method used by LeBerge and colleagues. The results from three experiments were consistent with the activity-distribution model and not with the moving-spotlight model.