Visual quality and attentional capture: a challenge to the special role of abrupt onsets

This article investigates the nature of stimulus-driven attentional capture. Previous studies (e.g., J. Jonides & S. Yantis, 1988) have suggested that only a single visual feature--abrupt visual onset--can elicit stimulus-driven attentional capture. Two experiments are reported that challenge the special status of abrupt onsets in attentional capture. In particular, this evidence suggests that abrupt onsets appear to attenuate display-size effects only in certain experimental contexts that inadvertently increase the ease with which they are perceived. Consequently, the special status attributed to abrupt onsets is argued to derive from their higher visual quality.