Selective attention and visual search: revision of an allocation model and application to age differences

The present experiments examined a revised version of the Eriksen and Yeh model of attentional allocation during visual search. The results confirmed the assumption of the model that performance represents a weighted combination of focused- and distributed-attention trials, although Ss relied on focused attention more than was predicted. Consistent with the model, predictions on the basis of the assumption of a terminating search fit the data better than predictions on the basis of an exhaustive search. The effects of varying cue validity favored an interpretation of focused attention in terms of a processing gradient rather than a zoom lens. Although the allocation of attention across trials was similar for young and older adults, there was an age-related increase in the time required to allocate attention within individual trials.