Citation

Wolfe JM, Yu KP, Stewart MI, Shorter AD, Friedman-Hill SR, Cave KR. J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform. 1990; 16(4): 879-892.

Affiliation

Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2148599

Abstract

In visual search for a conjunction it is much more difficult to search for the conjunction of 2 colors or 2 orientations than for Color x Orientation or Color x Shape conjunctions. The result is not limited to particular colors or shapes. Two colors cannot occupy the same spatial location in Color x Color searches. However, Experiments 6 and 7 show that Color x Shape searches remain efficient even if the color and shape are spatially separated. Our guided search model suggests that in searches for Color x Shape, a parallel color module can guide attention toward the correct color, whereas the shape module guides attention toward the correct shape. Together these 2 sources of guidance lead attention to the target. However, if a target is red and green among red-blue and green-blue distractors, it is not possible to guide search independently toward red items and green items or away from all blue items.

Language: en