Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
The gradual emergence of spatially selective target processing in visual search: From feature-specific to
1Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London.
Abstract:
To dissociate feature-based and object-based stages in the control of spatial attention during visual search, we employed the N2pc component as an electrophysiological marker of attentional object selection. Participants searched for a target object that was defined by a conjunction of color and shape. Some search displays contained the target or a nontarget object that matched either the target color or its shape among 3 nonmatching distractors. In other displays, the target and a partially target-matching nontarget object appeared together. N2pc results demonstrated that the initial stage of attentional object selection is controlled by local feature-specific signals. Attention is allocated in parallel and independently to objects with target-matching features during this early stage, irrespective of whether another target-matching object is simultaneously present elsewhere. From around 250 ms poststimulus, information is integrated across feature dimensions, and spatially selective attentional processing becomes object-based. These findings demonstrate that feature-based and object-based stages of attentional selectivity in visual search can be dissociated in real time.
Related Concept Videos
Visual System
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
Association Areas of the Cortex
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
Vision
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision
Parallel Processing

