Using response time distributions to examine top-down influences on attentional capture

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human Perception

Background:

• Contingent attentional capture describes how perceptual similarity between cues and targets amplifies cuing effects.
• Understanding the mechanisms of attentional control is crucial for explaining stimulus selection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how top-down attentional control settings influence attentional capture.
• To analyze response time (RT) distributions to understand the dynamics of attentional control.
• To differentiate between the contingent orienting hypothesis and the attentional disengagement account.

Main Methods:

• Three experiments were conducted to examine contingent attentional capture.
• Response times (RTs) were analyzed using ex-Gaussian and vincentile analyses.
• The influence of cue-target similarity on cuing effects and RT distributions was assessed.

Main Results:

• Perceptual similarity between cues and targets significantly influenced the magnitude of cuing effects.
• RT distribution analyses revealed that cuing effects were primarily due to a shifting effect, not a skewing effect.
• Top-down attentional control moderated cuing effects through distribution shifting.

Conclusions:

• Attentional capture is modulated by top-down attentional control, particularly through RT distribution shifting.
• Findings support the contingent orienting hypothesis over the attentional disengagement account.
• Top-down control influences stimulus selection by adjusting attentional settings based on perceptual relevance.