Anchor objects guide spatial attention during visual search.

ABSTRACT: Semantic information is used to guide attention during scene-viewing, but how exactly does this occur? We tested the hypothesis that "anchor objects" are a special class of semantic associate essential to efficient target search in naturalistic scenes. Adult participants completed a RSVP search task for a target object preceded by a prime. In Experiment 1a (N = 210), the prime was either a semantic anchor or an unrelated object followed by a target in a congruent or incongruent spatial location relative to the prime. Experiment 1b (N = 157) served as a direct replication of Experiment 1a with a more selective stimulus set. In Experiment 2 (N = 158) the prime and target objects were reversed to assess the directionality of the effects. Results showed that semantically related objects facili

SUBMITTER: Souza-Wiggins M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12672618 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature