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Updated: Jan 9, 2026

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Top-down preparation contributes to intertrial priming in singleton search.

Ben Sclodnick1, Hong-Jin Sun2, Bruce Milliken2

  • 1Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada. sclodnbc@mcmaster.ca.

Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Top-down preparation, even when randomly cued, enhances singleton search performance. This effect is influenced by timing and display size, showing memory representations impact visual search.

Keywords:
AttentionPreparationSelection historySelective attentionSingleton search

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Visual Perception
  • Human Attention

Background:

  • Top-down control significantly influences visual search.
  • Previous research showed consistent preparation speeds search by over 200 ms.
  • The current study investigates effects of trial-to-trial cued preparation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if randomly cued top-down preparation affects singleton search performance.
  • To examine the influence of temporal intervals on this preparatory effect.
  • To assess the impact of display size on the preparatory effect.

Main Methods:

  • Participants performed a singleton search task after preparing for a specific color.
  • Preparation cues were presented unpredictably on a trial-by-trial basis.
  • Temporal intervals and display sizes were manipulated across experiments.

Main Results:

  • Randomly cued preparation yielded a smaller, yet significant, search performance enhancement compared to consistent preparation.
  • The preparatory effect's sensitivity to temporal intervals was observed only with trial-to-trial cueing.
  • Search performance enhancement decreased with larger display sizes but remained robust up to nine items.

Conclusions:

  • Memory representations from both single and multiple instances of top-down control influence subsequent visual search.
  • Trial-to-trial preparation can effectively modulate visual search, though its magnitude and temporal sensitivity differ from consistent preparation.
  • These findings highlight the dynamic nature of top-down control in visual attention.