Task-relevance modulates the effects of peripheral distractors

Abstract

The current study investigated whether task-relevant information affects performance differently from how information that is not relevant for the task does when presented peripherally and centrally. In three experiments a target appeared inside the focus of attention, whereas a to-be-ignored distractor appeared either in the periphery (Experiments 1 and 2) or at the centre (Experiment 3) of attention. In each trial the distractor carried both task-relevant and irrelevant information. The results confirmed the “task relevance” hypothesis: Task-irrelevant information affected performance only when it appeared at the centre of attention, whereas task-relevant information affected performance when it appeared inside as well as outside the main focus of attention. The current results do not support suggestions that spatial stimuli (e.g., arrows) draw attention automatically regardless of task relevance.

This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation, Grant No. 859/01.

Notes

¹ As pointed out in the Introduction, we considered only one dimension, which was specifically coordinated with the task requirement, as task relevant whereas the other dimension was termed “irrelevant”. One of the reviewers pointed out that both distractor dimensions carried spatial information so that there is an amount of relevance even in the so called “irrelevant” dimension. Accordingly, it is possible to distinguish between direct and indirect task relevance rather than relevant and irrelevant dimensions. While this point is well taken we decided to stick to the terms suggested by Gronau et al. (2003).