Oculomotor capture by search-irrelevant features in visual working memory: on the crucial role of target-distractor similarity.

ABSTRACT: When searching for varying targets in the environment, a target template has to be maintained in visual working memory (VWM). Recently, we showed that search-irrelevant features of a VWM template bias attention in an object-based manner, so that objects sharing such features with a VWM template capture the eyes involuntarily. Here, we investigated whether target-distractor similarity modulates capture strength. Participants saccaded to a target accompanied by a distractor. A single feature (e.g., shape) defined the target in each trial indicated by a cue, and the cue also varied in one irrelevant feature (e.g., color). The distractor matched the cue's irrelevant feature in half of the trials. Nine experiments showed that target-distractor similarity consistently influenced the degree of oc

SUBMITTER: Foerster RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7343749 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature