Abstract
A spatial-cuing paradigm was used to test the hypothesis of Carrasco, Penpeci-Talgar, and Eckstein (2000) that the mask-dependent cuing effects found in visual signal detection by Smith (2000a) were caused by submaximal activation of the transient-orienting system. Mask-dependent cuing was found with a range of stimulus contrasts with pure peripheral cues and with the mixed central-peripheral cues of Smith (2000a), contrary to the predictions of the submaximal activation hypothesis. The use of a pedestal detection task to control spatial uncertainty showed that the cuing effect was due to signal enhancement. A model of mask-dependent cuing is described, which assumes that attention affects the rate of information accumulation from the display and that masks limit the visual persistence of the stimulus. The model correctly predicts differential mask dependencies in sensitivity for detection and discrimination and the associated patterns of response times.
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Parts of this research were presented at the 26th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in January 2001 and at the Purdue Winer Memorial Lectures, Purdue University, in November 2002. Preparation of this article was supported by Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP0209249.
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Smith, P.L., Wolfgang, B.J. & Sinclair, A.J. Mask-dependent attentional cuing effects in visual signal detection: The psychometric function for contrast. Perception & Psychophysics 66, 1056–1075 (2004). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194995
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194995