TY - JOUR
T1 - Spatial interference between attended items engenders serial visual processing
AU - Yamani, Yusuke
AU - McCarley, Jason
AU - Mounts, Jeffrey
AU - Kramer, Arthur
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - A pair of experiments investigated the architecture of visual processing, parallel versus serial, across high and low levels of spatial interference in a divided attention task. Subjects made speeded judgments that required them to attend to a pair of color-cued objects among gray filler items, with the spatial proximity between the attended items varied to manipulate the strength of interference between attended items. Systems factorial analysis (Townsend & Nozawa, Journal of Mathematical Psychology 39:321-359, 1995) was used to identify processing architecture. Experiment 1, using moderately dense displays, found evidence of parallel processing whether attended objects were in low or high proximity to one another. Experiment 2, using higher-density displays, found evidence of parallel selection when attended stimuli were widely separated but serial processing when they were in high proximity. Divided visual attention can operate in parallel under conditions of low or moderate spatial interference between selected items, but strong interference engenders serial processing.
AB - A pair of experiments investigated the architecture of visual processing, parallel versus serial, across high and low levels of spatial interference in a divided attention task. Subjects made speeded judgments that required them to attend to a pair of color-cued objects among gray filler items, with the spatial proximity between the attended items varied to manipulate the strength of interference between attended items. Systems factorial analysis (Townsend & Nozawa, Journal of Mathematical Psychology 39:321-359, 1995) was used to identify processing architecture. Experiment 1, using moderately dense displays, found evidence of parallel processing whether attended objects were in low or high proximity to one another. Experiment 2, using higher-density displays, found evidence of parallel selection when attended stimuli were widely separated but serial processing when they were in high proximity. Divided visual attention can operate in parallel under conditions of low or moderate spatial interference between selected items, but strong interference engenders serial processing.
KW - Cognitive architecture
KW - Systems factorial technology
KW - Visual selective attention
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84876888457&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3758/s13414-012-0392-y
DO - 10.3758/s13414-012-0392-y
M3 - Article
SN - 1943-3921
VL - 75
SP - 229
EP - 243
JO - Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
JF - Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
IS - 2
ER -