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The Time Course of Attention: Selection Is Transient

The time course of attention has often been investigated using a spatial cuing task. However, attention likely consists of multiple components, such as selectivity (resolving competition) and orienting (spatial shifting). Here we sought to investigate the time course of the selective aspect of atten...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Wilschut, Anna, Theeuwes, Jan, Olivers, Christian N. L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3220693/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22125619
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0027661
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author Wilschut, Anna
Theeuwes, Jan
Olivers, Christian N. L.
author_facet Wilschut, Anna
Theeuwes, Jan
Olivers, Christian N. L.
author_sort Wilschut, Anna
collection PubMed
description The time course of attention has often been investigated using a spatial cuing task. However, attention likely consists of multiple components, such as selectivity (resolving competition) and orienting (spatial shifting). Here we sought to investigate the time course of the selective aspect of attention, using a cuing task that did not require spatial shifting. In several experiments, targets were always presented at central fixation, and were preceded by a cue at different cue-target intervals. The selection component of attention was investigated by manipulating the presence of distractors. Regardless of the presence of distractors, an initial rapid performance enhancement was found that reached its maximum at around 100 ms post cue onset. Subsequently, when the target was the only item in the display, performance was sustained, but when the target was accompanied by irrelevant distractor items, performance declined. This temporal pattern matches closely with the transient attention response that has been found in spatial cuing studies, and shows that the selectivity aspect of attention is transient.
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spelling pubmed-32206932011-11-28 The Time Course of Attention: Selection Is Transient Wilschut, Anna Theeuwes, Jan Olivers, Christian N. L. PLoS One Research Article The time course of attention has often been investigated using a spatial cuing task. However, attention likely consists of multiple components, such as selectivity (resolving competition) and orienting (spatial shifting). Here we sought to investigate the time course of the selective aspect of attention, using a cuing task that did not require spatial shifting. In several experiments, targets were always presented at central fixation, and were preceded by a cue at different cue-target intervals. The selection component of attention was investigated by manipulating the presence of distractors. Regardless of the presence of distractors, an initial rapid performance enhancement was found that reached its maximum at around 100 ms post cue onset. Subsequently, when the target was the only item in the display, performance was sustained, but when the target was accompanied by irrelevant distractor items, performance declined. This temporal pattern matches closely with the transient attention response that has been found in spatial cuing studies, and shows that the selectivity aspect of attention is transient. Public Library of Science 2011-11-18 /pmc/articles/PMC3220693/ /pubmed/22125619 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0027661 Text en Wilschut et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Wilschut, Anna
Theeuwes, Jan
Olivers, Christian N. L.
The Time Course of Attention: Selection Is Transient
title The Time Course of Attention: Selection Is Transient
title_full The Time Course of Attention: Selection Is Transient
title_fullStr The Time Course of Attention: Selection Is Transient
title_full_unstemmed The Time Course of Attention: Selection Is Transient
title_short The Time Course of Attention: Selection Is Transient
title_sort time course of attention: selection is transient
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3220693/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22125619
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0027661
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