Reflexive orienting by central arrows: evidence from the inattentional blindness task

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Neuroscience
• Visual attention

Background:

• Central arrows typically elicit orienting of attention, even when nonpredictive of target location.
• This has been interpreted as reflexive attentional orienting.
• However, the role of conscious perception in this process remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether central arrows can induce attentional orienting without conscious awareness.
• To examine the relationship between conscious perception and attentional effects of central cues.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments employed a modified inattentional blindness task.
• Participants performed a task where central arrow cues were sometimes presented but not consciously perceived.

Main Results:

• Attentional orienting towards the cued location was observed.
• This orienting effect occurred even when participants did not consciously perceive the arrow cue.

Conclusions:

• Central arrows can direct attention reflexively, independent of conscious perception.
• These findings challenge the necessity of awareness for certain forms of attentional orienting.