Shifting of attentional focus within and about a visual display

Abstract

If several positions must be attended in a large visual display, does the efficiency of performance vary as a function of the display distance between these to-be-attended positions? Two previous experiments (Podgorny &Shepard, 1983; Shaw, 1978) gave conflicting answers. In the present experiments, eight-letter circular displays were briefly presented. On each trial one, two, or three positions of the display were cued or precued. The number of noncued display positions intervening between the cued locations varied from zero to three. The subjects' task was to rapidly discriminate between two target letters. Although reaction time was found to increase with increases in the number of cued locations, no significant or suggestive effects were found for the spacing or distance between the cued locations. The evidence strongly suggests that the subjects serially searched the cued locations, which further implies that attention can index locations in the visual field at a speed that is independent of the distance between these locations. © 1989 Psychonomic Society, Inc.