Wu, Rachel and Scerif, G. and Aslin, R.N. and Smith, Tim J. and Nako, R. and Eimer, Martin (2013) Searching for something familiar or novel: top–down attentional selection of specific items or object categories. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 25 (5), pp. 719-729. ISSN 0898-929X.
Abstract
Visual search is often guided by top–down attentional templates that specify target-defining features. But search can also occur at the level of object categories. We measured the N2pc component, a marker of attentional target selection, in two visual search experiments where targets were defined either categorically (e.g., any letter) or at the item level (e.g., the letter C) by a prime stimulus. In both experiments, an N2pc was elicited during category search, in both familiar and novel contexts (Experiment 1) and with symbolic primes (Experiment 2), indicating that, even when targets are only defined at the category level, they are selected at early sensory-perceptual stages. However, the N2pc emerged earlier and was larger during item-based search compared with category-based search, demonstrating the superiority of attentional guidance by item-specific templates. We discuss the implications of these findings for attentional control and category learning.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences |
| Research Centres and Institutes: | Moving Image, Birkbeck Institute for the (BIMI), Brain and Cognitive Development, Centre for (CBCD) |
| Depositing User: | Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 11 May 2015 08:15 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:16 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/12055 |
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