Reducing the Effects of Adjacent Distractors by Narrowing Attention
Document Type
Article
Department
Psychology (Scripps)
Publication Date
1991
Disciplines
Cognitive Psychology | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Three experiments explored the gradual narrowing of visual attention to a letter target when other letters were positioned close by. The method by which attention was narrowed involved presenting a digit target immediately prior to the letter target and in the same location for progressively shorter durations and requiring the S to identify both the digit target and the letter target before responding. The response time data from the 1st 2 experiments indicated that shorter durations of the digit target reduced the amount of information processed from noise letters positioned on either side of the letter target. In the 3rd experiment, in which separation of letters was increased slightly, the response times indicated that the information from flanking noise letters may have been virtually eliminated.
Rights Information
© 1991 American Psychological Association
Terms of Use & License Information
DOI
10.1037/0096-1523.17.1.65
Recommended Citation
LaBerge, D., Brown, V., Carter, M., Bash, D., & Hartley, A. (1991). Reducing the effects of adjacent distractors by narrowing attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 17, 65-76. doi: 10.1037/0096-1523.17.1.65
