Do feature-based regularities of task irrelevant stimuli modulate attentional capture?

Abstract

Visual attention serves the purpose of selecting relevant information while simultaneously filtering out irrelevant information, these functions can although be biased by bottom-up processing. We set out to uncover whether visual processing utilizes regularities in distractor features, on a trial-by-trial basis, to reduce attentional capture. A previous study by Chetverikov, Campana and Kristjánsson (2020) showed that subjects could quickly form an accurate internal representation of a complex bimodal distribution of distractor features in distractor rejection templates under conditions of large set-sizes. Based on these findings, we examined whether such functions could also explain distractor suppression under smaller setsize conditions. Using a visual discrimination task and a covert paradigm, we manipulated distractor presence and feature regularities of distractors within blocks. Feature regularities were bimodally distributed and were brought about using two feature values, in contrast with each other, with one feature value being more probable than the other. Data was then gathered from 14 subjects. The results revealed that attentional capture was present in our paradigm, but we found no support for the notion that this attentional capture was reduced by feature regularities in distractors. Additionally, we found no support for the notion that distractor templates were operating on accurate distractor input and deploying suppressive measures accordingly. Although purely speculative, we observed some trends indicating that habituation might be the underlying distractor processing mechanism at work under the conditions of our experiment.