Object-based attention: A tutorial review

Abstract

This tutorial provides a selective review of research on object-based deployment of attention. It focuses primarily on behavioral studies with human observers. The tutorial is divided into five sections. It starts with an introduction to object-based attention and a description of the three commonly used experimental paradigms in object-based attention research. These are followed by a review of a variety of manifestations of object effects and the factors that influence object segmentation. The final two sections are devoted to two key issues in object-based research: the mechanisms that give rise to the object effects and the role of space in object-based selection. © 2012 Psychonomic Society, Inc.