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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments
Published on: January 23, 2017
Attention trades off spatial acuity
Barbara Montagna1, Franco Pestilli, Marisa Carrasco
1Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Abstract:
Covertly attending to a stimulus location increases spatial acuity. Is such increased spatial acuity coupled with a decreased acuity at unattended locations? We measured the effects of exogenous (transient and involuntary) and endogenous (sustained and voluntary) attention on observers' acuity thresholds for a Landolt gap resolution task at both attended and unattended locations. Both types of attention increased acuity at the attended and decreased it at unattended locations relative to a neutral baseline condition. These trade-off findings support the idea that limited processing resources affect early vision, even when the display is impoverished and there is no location uncertainty. There was no benefit without a cost.
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