Prior target locations attract overt attention during search

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Neuroscience
• Visual perception

Background:

• Visual search theories traditionally emphasize explicit target features for attention guidance.
• Implicit guidance by prior experience, like location priming, is increasingly recognized.
• Previous location priming studies using manual response times had limitations in measuring attentional allocation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of implicit memory on attentional allocation during visual search.
• To provide a more direct measure of attentional orienting than manual response times.
• To examine the strength and impact of oculomotor priming on visual search behavior.

Main Methods:

• Five experiments were conducted using gaze tracking to measure attentional orienting.
• Participants performed visual search tasks across multiple trials.
• First saccades (eye movements) were analyzed to assess attentional capture by previous target locations.

Main Results:

• First saccades were strongly attracted to the previously rewarded location, demonstrating significant oculomotor priming.
• This oculomotor priming effect persisted even when the previous location was not predictive of the current target.
• The automatic orienting of attention to the prior location disrupted efficient guidance to the actual search target.

Conclusions:

• Memories of recent experiences exert a powerful, automatic influence on attentional allocation during visual search.
• Oculomotor priming provides a direct measure of attentional orienting, revealing the strong impact of implicit memory.
• Understanding implicit guidance mechanisms is crucial for a comprehensive theory of visual attention.