Can salient stimuli really be suppressed?

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics volume 83, pages260–269(2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Although it is often assumed that a physically salient stimulus automatically captures attention even when it is irrelevant to a current task, the signal-suppression hypothesis proposes that observers can actively suppress a salient-but-irrelevant distractor. However, it is still unknown whether suppression alone (i.e., without target enhancement) is potent enough to override attentional capture by a salient singleton in an otherwise-homogeneous background. The current study addressed this issue. On search trials (70% of trials), participants searched for a shape target on trials that either did or did not contain an irrelevant color singleton. The effects of learning to suppress the color of the singleton were examined on interleaved probe trials (30% of trials). On these trials, participants searched for a probe target letter; those letters were presented on four ovals (one colored oval and three gray ovals). Each colored oval was a singleton that was one of three types: the color of the distractor on search trials, the color of the target on search trials, or a neutral color that had not appeared on search trials. Responses were faster for the probe target on a neutral-colored or target-colored item than on a gray-colored item; however, responses were slower for the probe target on a distractor-colored item than on a gray-colored item. The results demonstrate a powerful suppression mechanism overriding attentional capture by a singleton item.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

US$ 39.95

Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Notes

  1. 1.

    With a heterogeneous shape display, this task may have induced feature-search mode (e.g., Bacon & Egeth, 1994). In feature-search mode, the absence of a singleton capture effect is not surprising. However, the actual reversal of the capture effect is a striking finding.

  2. 2.

    We use the term “neutral” to refer to a singleton color that has not been used on search trials. Of course, in ordinary usage gray could also be considered neutral, but it doesn’t ever serve as a singleton. Please note the terminology is slightly different from that in Chang and Egeth (2019).

  3. 3.

    In classical paradigms, singleton capture effects are obtained when there is a singleton distractor slowing target search (e.g., Theeuwes, 1992). However, on probe trials in our paradigm, a singleton item on each display was either a target or a distractor item. Therefore, we refer to the obtained singleton related effects as either a singleton-facilitation effect or a singleton-inhibition effect depending on the pattern of the data.

References

  1. Anderson, B. A., Laurent, P. A., & Yantis, S. (2011). Value-driven attentional capture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(25), 10367–10371. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1104047108

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Awh, E., Belopolsky, A. V., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). Top-down versus bottom-up attentional control: A failed theoretical dichotomy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(8), 437–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2012.06.010

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Bacon, W. F., & Egeth, H. E. (1994). Overriding stimulus-driven attentional capture. Perception & Psychophysics, 55(5), 485–496. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Berridge, K. C., & Robinson, T. E. (1998). What is the role of dopamine in reward: Hedonic impact, reward learning, or incentive salience? Brain Research Reviews, 28(3), 309–369. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0173(98)00019-8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Brainard, D. H. (1997).The Psychophysics Toolbox. Spatial Vision, 10, 433–436. https://doi.org/10.1163/156856897X00357

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Chang, S., Cunningham, C. A., & Egeth, H. E. (2019). The power of negative thinking: Paradoxical but effective ignoring of salient-but-irrelevant stimuli with a spatial cue. Visual Cognition, 27(3–4), 199–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/13506285.2018.1541950

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Chang, S., & Egeth, H. E. (2019). Enhancement and Suppression Flexibly Guide Attention. Psychological Science, 30(12), 1724–1732. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619878813

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Cousineau, D. (2005). Confidence intervals in within-subject designs: A simpler solution to Loftus and Masson’s method. Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology, 1(1), 42–45. https://doi.org/10.20982/tqmp.01.1.p042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Duncan, J., & Humphrey, G. W. (1989). Visual serach and stimulus similarity. Psychological Review, 96(3), 433–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Feldmann-Wüstefeld, T., Brandhofer, R., & Schubö, A. (2016). Rewarded visual items capture attention only in heterogeneous contexts. Psychophysiology, 53(7), 1063–1073. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12641

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Feldmann-Wüstefeld, T., Busch, N. A., & Schubö, A. (2020). Failed suppression of salient stimuli precedes behavioral errors. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 32(2), 367–377. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01502

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Folk, C. L., & Remington, R. (1998). Selectivity in distraction by irrelevant featural singletons: Evidence for two forms of attentional capture. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24(3), 847–858. https://doi.org/10.1037//0096-1523.24.3.847

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Folk, C. L., Remington, R. W., & Johnston, J. T. (1992). Involuntary Covert Orienting Is Contingent on Attentional Control Settings.Pdf.

  14. Gaspar, J. M., & McDonald, J. J. (2014). Suppression of salient objects prevents distraction in visual search. Journal of Neuroscience, 34(16), 5658–5666. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4161-13.2014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Gaspelin, N., Gaspar, J. M., & Luck, S. J. (2019). Oculomotor inhibition of salient distractors: Voluntary inhibition cannot override selection history. Visual Cognition, 27(3–4), 227–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/13506285.2019.1600090

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Gaspelin, N., Leonard, C. J., & Luck, S. J. (2015). Direct evidence for active suppression of salient-but-irrelevant sensory inputs. Psychological Science, 26(11), 1740–1750. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615597913

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Gaspelin, N., Leonard, C. J., & Luck, S. J. (2017). Suppression of overt attentional capture by salient-but-irrelevant color singletons. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 79(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-016-1209-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Gaspelin, N., & Luck, S. J. (2018a). Combined Electrophysiological and Behavioral Evidence for the Suppression of Salient Distractors. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 30(9), 1265–1280. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Gaspelin, N., & Luck, S. J. (2018b). Distinguishing Among Potential Mechanisms of Singleton Suppression Distinguishing Among Potential Mechanisms of Singleton Suppression. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 44(4), 626–644. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000484

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Grégoire, L., Britton, M. K., & Anderson, B. A. (2020). Motivated Suppression of Value- and Threat-Modulated Attentional Capture. Emotion. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000777

  21. Hickey, C., Di Lollo, V., & McDonald, J. J. (2009). Electrophysiological indices of target and distractor processing in visual search. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21(4), 760–775. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2009.21039

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Itti, L., & Koch, C. (2000). A saliency-based search mechanism for overt and covert shifts of visual attention. Vision Research, 40(10–12), 1489–1506. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0042-6989(99)00163-7

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Leonard, C. J., & Egeth, H. E. (2008). Attentional guidance in singleton search: An examination of top-down, bottom-up, and intertrial factors. Visual Cognition, 16(8), 1078–1091. https://doi.org/10.1080/13506280701580698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Meeter, M., & Olivers, C. N. L. (2006). Intertrial priming stemming from ambiguity: A new account of priming in visual search. Visual Cognition, 13(2), 202–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/13506280500277488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Nothdurft, H. C. (1993). The role of features in preattentive vision: Comparison of orientation, motion and color cues. Vision Research, 33(14), 1937–1958. https://doi.org/10.1016/0042-6989(93)90020-W

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Pearson, D., Watson, P., Cheng, P. X., & Le Pelley, M. E. (2020). Overt Attentional Capture by Reward-Related Stimuli Overcomes Inhibitory Suppression. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 46(5), 489–501. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000728

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Sawaki, R., & Luck, S. J. (2010). Capture versus suppression of attention by salient singletons: Electrophysiological evidence for an automatic attend-to-me signal. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 71(1), 174–182. https://doi.org/10.3758/APP

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Theeuwes, J. (1992). Perceptual selectivity for color and form. Perception & Psychophysics, 51(6), 599–606. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211656

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Theeuwes, J. (2004). Top-down search strategies cannot override attentional capture. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 11(1), 65–70. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206462

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Theeuwes, J. (2018). Visual Selection: Usually Fast and Automatic; Seldom Slow and Volitional. Journal of Cognition, 1(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Theeuwes, J. (2019). Goal-driven, stimulus-driven, and history-driven selection. Current Opinion in Psychology, 29, 97–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.024

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Van Selst, M., & Jolicoeur, P. (1994). A Solution to the Effect of Sample Size on Outlier Elimination. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 47(3), 631–650. https://doi.org/10.1080/14640749408401131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Wang, B., & Theeuwes, J. (2020). Salience determines attentional orienting in visual selection. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance. 46(10), 1051–1057. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000796

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Wyble, B., Callahan-Flintoft, C., Chen, H., Marinov, T., Sarkar, A., & Bowman, H. (2020). Understanding Visual Attention With RAGNAROC: A Reflexive Attention Gradient Through Neural AttRactOr Competition. Psychological Review. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000245

Download references

Acknowledgement

We thank Corbin A. Cunningham for valuable discussion and helpful comments.

Funding

This research was supported in part by a grant from the Kwanjeong Lee Chong Hwan Educational Foundation (KEF-2016) to S. Chang.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    Seah Chang & Howard E. Egeth

Authors
  1. Seah Chang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Howard E. Egeth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seah Chang.

Additional information

Open Practices Statement

The data for the experiment reported here are available at https://osf.io/f7np4 the experiment was not preregistered.

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chang, S., Egeth, H.E. Can salient stimuli really be suppressed?. Atten Percept Psychophys 83, 260–269 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-020-02207-8

Download citation

Keywords

  • Attention
  • Attentional capture
  • Visual search