Motion onset captures attention: A rejoinder to Franconeri and Simons (2005)

Abstract

Recently, we have provided evidence that the onset of motion captures attention (Abrams & Christ, 2003, 2005a, 2005b). In the present article, we clarify the motion onset hypothesis, we discuss recent data (Franconeri & Simons, 2005) that, at least on the surface, seem to challenge the hypothesis, and we present results from a new experiment (Christ & Abrams, 2005). Finally, we conclude that, although motion onset does indeed appear to capture attention, motion in the absence of a motion onset might also attract attention under certain circumstances. Copyright 2006 Psychonomic Society, Inc.