Attentional selection within and across hemispheres: implications for the perceptual load theory

The perceptual load of a given task affects attentional selection, with the selection occurring earlier when the load is high and later when the load is low. Recent evidence suggests that local competitive interaction may underlie the perceptual load effect and determine to what extent a task-irrelevant distractor is processed. Here, we asked participants to search for a target bar among homogeneously oriented bars (the low load conditions) or heterogeneously oriented bars (the high load conditions) in the central display, while ignoring a congruent or incongruent flanker bar presented to the left or right side of the central display, or a bar presented at one of the six positions outer to the central display. Importantly, we differentiated conditions in which the target in the central display and the peripheral flanker was presented within the same hemifield or across different hemifields. Results showed a significant flanker effect for the low load condition, but not for the high load condition, when the target and the flanker were across hemifields. However, when the target and the flanker were presented within the same hemifield, there was no flanker effect for either low or high load conditions. These findings demonstrate that the ability to ignore the task-irrelevant distractor is affected by local competition within hemisphere and that the perceptual load theory needs to be supplemented with detailed analysis of cognitive processes and mechanisms underlying the consumption of attentional resources.