Abstract
Having to look for multiple targets typically results in switch costs. However, using a gaze-contingent eyetracking paradigm with multiple color-defined targets, we have recently shown that the emergence of switch costs depends on whether observers can choose a target or a target is being imposed upon them. Here, using a similar paradigm, we tested whether these findings generalize to the situation in which targets are specified across different feature dimensions. We instructed participants to simultaneously search for, and then fixate, either of two possible targets presented among distractors. The targets were defined as either two colors, two shapes, or one color and one shape. In one condition, only one of the two targets was available in each display, so that the choice was imposed. In the other condition, both targets would be present in each display, which gave observers free choice over what to search for. Consistent with our earlier findings, switch costs emerged when targets were imposed, whereas no switch costs emerged when target selection was free, irrespective of the dimension in which the targets were defined. The results are consistent with the operation of different modes of control in multiple-target search, with switch costs emerging whenever reactive control is required and being reduced or absent when displays allow for proactive control.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1904-1917 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics |
Volume | 80 |
Issue number | 8 |
Early online date | 7 Aug 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2018 |
Funding
Author note This work was supported by Open Research Area Grant 464-13-003 from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, and by European Research Council Consolidator Grant ERC-2013-CoG-615423 to C.N.L.O. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with respect to their authorship or the publication of this article.
Funders | Funder number |
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Seventh Framework Programme | 615423 |
FP7 Ideas: European Research Council | |
European Research Council | |
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | 464-13-003 |
Keywords
- Cognitive and attentional control
- Eye movements
- Visual attention
- Visual search