Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026
Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking
Published on: August 29, 2018
Faster target selection in preview visual search depends on luminance onsets: behavioral and electrophysiological
1Department of Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London, UK. m.kiss@bbk.ac.uk
Abstract:
To investigate how target detection in visual search is modulated when a subset of distractors is presented in advance (preview search), we measured search performance and the N2pc component as an electrophysiological marker of attentional target selection. Targets defined by a color/shape conjunction were detected faster and the N2pc emerged earlier in preview search relative to a condition in which all items were presented simultaneously. Behavioral and electrophysiological preview benefits disappeared when stimuli were equiluminant with their background, in spite of the fact that targets were feature singletons among the new items in preview search. The results demonstrate that previewing distractors expedites the spatial selection of targets at early sensory-perceptual stages, and that these preview benefits depend on rapid attentional capture by luminance onsets.
