Priming of pop-out: I. Role of features

We examined a visual search task, in which observers responded to the high-acuity aspect of a popout target (shape of an odd-colored diamond or vernier offset of an odd spatial-frequency patch). Repetition of the attention-driving feature (color or spatial frequency) in this task primes the popout; repetition of the high-acuity aspect (shape, vernier offset) does not. Priming of pop-out is due to a decaying memory trace of the attention-focusing feature laid down with each trial. The trace exerts a diminishing effect over the following five to eight trials (≈30 sec), and its influence over this time is cumulative. Observers cannot willfully overcome the priming, which suggests that it is passive and autonomous. Both target facilitation and distractor inhibition are evident; the former has a greater effect. The phenomenon shows complete binocular transfer.

[1]  M. Jarvik,et al.  Probability learning and a negative recency effect in the serial anticipation of alternative symbols. , 1951, Journal of experimental psychology.

[2]  William Epstein,et al.  Perceptual set as an artifact of recency. , 1960 .

[3]  F. Attneave.  Applications of information theory to psychology: A summary of basic concepts, methods, and results. , 1961 .

[4]  D. Wickens,et al.  Proactive inhibition and item similarity in short-term memory , 1963 .

[5]  Stephen Engel,et al.  Alternation and repetition reaction times under three schedules of event sequencing , 1967 .

[6]  R. Remington.  Analysis of sequential effects in choice reaction times. , 1969, Journal of experimental psychology.

[7]  W. Chase,et al.  Sequential effects in choice reaction time. , 1969 .

[8]  A. Wilkins.  Conjoint frequency, category size, and categorization time , 1971 .

[9]  N. Kirby,et al.  Sequential effects of serial reaction time. , 1972 .

[10]  R Sekuler,et al.  Mental set alters visibility of moving targets , 1977, Science.

[11]  Walter Schneider,et al.  Controlled and Automatic Human Information Processing: 1. Detection, Search, and Attention. , 1977 .

[12]  A. Treisman,et al.  A feature-integration theory of attention , 1980, Cognitive Psychology.

[13]  N. Graham,et al.  Spatial frequency uncertainty effects in the detection of sinusoidal gratings , 1981, Vision Research.

[14]  J. Morton,et al.  The effects of priming on picture recognition. , 1982, British journal of psychology.

[15]  Eileen Kowler,et al.  The effect of expectations on slow oculomotor control—IV. Anticipatory smooth eye movements depend on prior target motions , 1984, Vision Research.

[16]  S Ullman,et al.  Shifts in selective visual attention: towards the underlying neural circuitry. , 1985, Human neurobiology.

[17]  B Julesz,et al.  "Where" and "what" in vision. , 1985, Science.

[18]  S. Tipper.  The Negative Priming Effect: Inhibitory Priming by Ignored Objects , 1985, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[19]  T. Cohn,et al.  Effect of large spatial uncertainty on foveal luminance increment detectability. , 1985, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[20]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Reorienting attention across the horizontal and vertical meridians: Evidence in favor of a premotor theory of attention , 1987, Neuropsychologia.

[21]  B Fischer,et al.  The preparation of visually guided saccades. , 1987, Reviews of physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology.

[22]  A. Treisman.  Features and Objects: The Fourteenth Bartlett Memorial Lecture , 1988, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[23]  Alan J. Parkin,et al.  Implicit and explicit memory in young children and adults , 1988 .

[24]  Alan S. Brown,et al.  Persistent repetition priming in picture naming and its dissociation from recognition memory. , 1988, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[25]  J. Duncan,et al.  Visual search and stimulus similarity. , 1989, Psychological review.

[26]  Susan L. Franzel,et al.  Guided search: an alternative to the feature integration model for visual search. , 1989, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[27]  B. Kröse,et al.  The control and speed of shifts of attention , 1989, Vision Research.

[28]  A Treisman,et al.  Implicit and explicit memory for visual patterns. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[29]  D. Schacter.  Perceptual Representation Systems and Implicit Memory , 1990, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[30]  L. Cooper,et al.  Implicit memory for unfamiliar objects depends on access to structural descriptions. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[31]  D. Schacter,et al.  Priming of Nonverbal Information and the Nature of Implicit Memory , 1990 .

[32]  S P Tipper,et al.  Inhibitory mechanisms of attention in identification and localization tasks: time course and disruption. , 1991, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[33]  D Sagi,et al.  Where practice makes perfect in texture discrimination: evidence for primary visual cortex plasticity. , 1991, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[34]  M. Bravo,et al.  The role of attention in different visual-search tasks , 1992, Perception & psychophysics.

[35]  S. Shettleworth,et al.  Detection of cryptic prey: search image or search rate? , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[36]  S. Shettleworth,et al.  Detection of cryptic prey: search image or search rate? , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[37]  D H Ballard,et al.  Hand-eye coordination during sequential tasks. , 1992, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[38]  T Poggio,et al.  Fast perceptual learning in visual hyperacuity. , 1991, Science.

[39]  Ken Nakayama,et al.  Express attentional shifts , 1993, Vision Research.