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Attentional control settings modulate susceptibility to the induced Roelofs effect
Benjamin D Lester1, Paul Dassonville
1Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, 1227, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|April 12, 2011
Summary
The Roelofs effect, a visual illusion, shifts perceived location based on frame position. Attentional focus, specifically target color, can modulate this spatial misperception, demonstrating top-down influence on visual cues.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Visual Perception
- Neuroscience
Background:
- The Roelofs effect demonstrates how environmental cues (bottom-up) influence spatial perception.
- It is unknown if top-down factors, like attention, can modulate this illusion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether attentional filtering can modulate the magnitude of the Roelofs effect.
- To determine if task-relevant information influences spatial misperception driven by contextual cues.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a color-contingency effect as an attentional manipulation.
- Presented observers with a Roelofs-inducing frame and colored targets within distractors.
- Required observers to report target location under varying color conditions.
Main Results:
- The Roelofs effect was significantly greater when the frame color matched the target color.
- This indicates that feature-based attention enhances the illusion's impact.
- Suggests top-down attentional processes influence spatial perception.
Conclusions:
- Feature-based attentional processes can modulate the influence of contextual information on spatial perception.
- Top-down factors play a role in modulating visual illusions like the Roelofs effect.
- Highlights the interaction between attention and environmental cues in shaping visual experience.
