Global feature-based attention for motion and color

Abstract

We used a divided attention psychophysical task to test the hypothesis that visual attention to a stimulus feature1 facilitates the processing of other stimuli sharing the same feature. Performance on a dual-task was significantly better when human observers divided attention across two spatially separate stimuli sharing a common feature (same direction of motion or same color) compared to opposing features. This attentional effect was dependent upon the presence of competing stimuli. These results are consistent with a spatially global feature-based mechanism of attention that increases the response of cortical neurons tuned to an attended feature throughout the visual field. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.