The role of attention in feature detection and conjunction discrimination: an electrophysiological analysis

An electrophysiological probe technique was used to ascertain whether the same attentional mechanisms are employed for both the detection of simple visual features and the discrimination of conjunctions of features. Visual search arrays containing 14 grey items and 2 colored items were presented; one color was designated relevant for each trial block. Subjects were required to report the presence or absence of the relevant color (feature detection condition) or the shape of the relevantly-colored item (conjunction discrimination condition). Shortly after the onset of the search array, a task-irrelevant probe stimulus was flashed at the location of the relevant or irrelevant color and the event-related potential (ERP) produced by this stimulus was used to assess sensory processing at the probed location. Probes presented at the location of the relevant color were found to elicit enhanced ERP components and probes presented on the opposite side of the display from the relevant color elicited suppressed components. These effects were observed in both the detection and discrimination conditions, indicating that spatially restricted attentional processes are used for both the detection of simple features and the discrimination of conjunctions. However, one ERP component (the PI wave) exhibited these effects in the discrimination condition but not in the detection condition, indicating that conjunction discrimination utilizes additional attentional processes beyond those required for feature detection.