Conjunction search: Can we simultaneously bias attention to features and relations?

Abstract

Attention allows selection of sought-after objects by tuning attention in a top-down manner to task-relevant features. Among other possible search modes, attention can be tuned to the exact feature values of a target (e.g., red, large), or to the relative target feature (e.g., reddest, largest item), in which case selection is context dependent. The present study tested whether we can tune attention simultaneously to a specific feature value (e.g., specific size) and a relative target feature (e.g., relative color) of a conjunction target, using a variant of the spatial cueing paradigm. Tuning to the specific feature of the target was encouraged by randomly presenting the conjunction target in a varying context of nontarget items, and feature-specific versus relational tuning was assessed by briefly presenting conjunction cues that either matched or mismatched the relative versus physical features of the target. The results showed that attention could be biased to the specific size and the relative color of the conjunction target or vice versa. These results suggest the existence of local and relatively low-level attentional control mechanisms that operate independently of each other in separate feature dimensions (color, size) to choose the best search strategy in line with current top-down goals.