Biology subjects

Liesefeld, H. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Liesefeld, H. R..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Tracking the misallocation and reallocation of spatial attention towards auditory stimuli

Completely ignoring a salient distractor presented concurrently with a target is difficult and sometimes attention is involuntarily attracted to the distractors location (attentional capture). Employing the N2ac component as a marker of attention allocation towards sounds, in this study we investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics of auditory attention across two experiments. Human participants (male and female) performed an auditory search task, where the target was accompanied by a distractor in 2/3rd of the trials. For a distractor more salient than target (Exp. 1), we observe not only a distractor N2ac (indicating attentional capture), but the full chain of attentional dynamics implied by the notion of attentional capture, namely: (a) the distractor captures attention before the target is attended, (b) allocation of attention to the target is delayed by distractor presence, and (c) the target is attended after the distractor. Conversely, for a distractor less salient than the target (Exp. 2), although behavioral interference was present, no attentional capture was observed. Together, these findings reveal two types of spatial-attentional dynamics in the auditory modality (distraction with and without attentional capture). Significance StatementOftentimes, we find it hard to ignore the location of a salient sound that distracts us from our current tasks. Although, a common everyday experience, little is known about how spatial distraction unfolds at the neural level in the auditory modality. Using electrophysiological markers of attention allocations, we report comprehensive evidence of spatial attentional capture by a salient auditory distractor, indicating that attention is first misallocated to the distractor and only afterwards reallocated towards the target. Similar patterns were observed earlier only in vision and their discovery in the auditory modality indicates towards the existence of domain-general spatial attentional dynamics consistent across sensory modalities. Finally, we demonstrate that only a distractor more salient than the target reliably captures attention.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Probability cueing of singleton-distractor locations in visual search: priority-map- or dimension-based inhibition?

Observers can learn the likely locations of salient distractors in visual search, reducing their potential to capture attention (Ferrante et al., 2018; Sauter et al., 2018a; Wang & Theeuwes, 2018a). While there is agreement that this involves positional suppression of the likely distractor location(s), it is contentious at which stage of search guidance the suppression operates: the supra-dimensional priority map or feature-contrast signals within the distractor dimension. On the latter account, advocated by Sauter et al., target processing should be unaffected by distractor suppression when the target is defined in a different (non-suppressed) dimension to the target. At odds with this, Wang and Theeuwes found strong suppression not only of the (color) distractor, but also of the (shape) target when it appeared at the likely distractor location. Adopting their paradigm, the present study ruled out that increased cross-trial inhibition of the single frequent (frequently inhibited) as compared to any of the rare (rarely inhibited) distractor locations is responsible for this target-location effect. However, a reduced likelihood of the target appearing at the frequent vs. a rare distractor location contributes to this effect: removing this negative bias abolished the cost to target processing with increasing practice, indicative of a transition from priority-map- to dimension-based - and thus a flexible locus of - distractor suppression.\n\nPublic Significance StatementDistraction by a salient visual stimulus outside the focus of the task at hand occurs frequently. The present study examined whether and how knowledge of the likely location(s) where the distractors occur helps the observer to mitigate distraction. The results confirmed that observers can learn to suppress distracting stimuli at likely locations. Further, they showed that, the suppression may occur at different levels in the hierarchically organized visual system where the priorities of which objects to be attended in the environment are determined.

neuroscience↗