Spatial Negative Priming, but Not Inhibition of Return, with Central (Foveal) Displays

Abstract

The view persists that the inhibition of return (IOR) and the spatial negative priming (SNP) phenomena may be produced by a common “orientation inhibition” mechanism (e.g., Christie two, 1-response tasks, using either central (Task 1) or peripheral (Task 2: IOR) event locations, and two, 4-response tasks, again, using central (Task 3: SNP-central) or peripheral (Task 4: SNP-peripheral) locations. Trials occurred in pairs; first the prime (a target or a distractor), then the probe (target only). Critically, neither distractor- nor target-occupied prime locations produced either inhibitory (SNP effect) or positive after-effects, respectively, in Task 1. Seemingly, centrally located events do not generate orientation inhibition and so, unlike the IOR effect, this inhibition does not cause the SNP-central phenomenon.