Tuning characteristics of the top-down attentional setting

Abstract

Previous studies of top-down attentional guidance have focused generally on the attentional prioritization of a single target feature. The present study focused on how the attentional system would be configured when the target possesses several unique features. These features were perfectly correlated, which meant that monitoring just one of them would be an adequate strategy. The experiments addressed the following questions: (a) If the target is a singleton, would the attentional system be set to monitor the target's unique features, or would the search strategy default to singleton detection? (b) Can the target's static and dynamic features be prioritized simultaneously? (c) Are all of the target's features prioritized, or only those features that are diagnostic of targethood? The results revealed an attentional system that can be flexibly tuned to multiple target features across static and dynamic dimensions. This system can simultaneously be narrowly tuned to monitor a specific target feature and broadly tuned to detect singletons. Finally, the attentional system monitors only those features that are diagnostic of targethood. © 2012 Psychonomic Society, Inc.