Lecture 8 Object based attention

Question 1

What is the traditional view of attention (space-based)?

Answer 1

Attention acts on regions of space (e.g., Spotlight Theory, FIT, Guided Search).

Question 2

What is the alternative, object-based view of attention?

Answer 2

Attention acts on perceptual objects rather than space itself.

Question 3

Rock & Gutman (1981) – What did overlapping figure studies show?

Answer 3

Selective attention was possible for objects in the same space; memory only for attended object.

Question 4

Tipper (1985) – What is negative priming?

Answer 4

Slower naming of an object if it was ignored previously → ignored objects processed up to recognition.

Question 5

Duncan (1984) – What was the main finding?

Answer 5

Higher accuracy reporting two attributes of the same object vs. different objects.

Question 6

Egly, Driver & Rafal (1994) – What did the rectangle cueing task show?

Answer 6

Same-object advantage: faster responses to targets within the same object, even at equal spatial distance.

Question 7

Moore, Yantis & Vaughan (1998) – What did occlusion studies reveal?

Answer 7

Same-object advantage persisted despite occlusion → attention spreads to whole perceived objects.

Question 8

What neuroimaging evidence supports object-based attention?

Answer 8

fMRI: Attending to faces ↑ FFA, attending to houses ↑ PPA → neural signatures of object selection.

Question 9

What does object-based attention summary suggest?

Answer 9

Attention enhances entire objects; ignored objects still influence performance.

Question 10

What is visual neglect?

Answer 10

Deficit in attending to stimuli on one side (usually left) after right parietal damage.

Question 11

Is neglect blindness?

Answer 11

No, visual input intact but inaccessible to awareness.

Question 12

How does neglect manifest clinically?

Answer 12

Omit left side in drawings, ignore left in cancellation tests, fail to groom/dress left side.

Question 13

What did Posner’s cueing show in neglect patients?

Answer 13

Valid left cues: near-normal. Invalid cues: severe left deficit → problem is disengaging/reorienting.

Question 14

What is extinction?

Answer 14

Failure to perceive contralesional stimulus when both sides stimulated simultaneously.

Question 15

What is Balint’s Syndrome?

Answer 15

Bilateral parietal/occipital damage → simultanagnosia, optic ataxia, illusory conjunctions.

Question 16

Why is Balint’s Syndrome significant?

Answer 16

Shows need for attention to bind features into coherent objects.

Question 17

What is inhibition of return (IOR)?

Answer 17

Slower response at cued location after delay → prevents rechecking old locations.

Question 18

How did Tipper (1991) show object-based IOR?

Answer 18

Rotated cued objects; inhibition followed object, not fixed space.

Question 19

What did Behrmann & Tipper (1994) find about object-based neglect?

Answer 19

Neglect shifted with rotated object (barbell task) → neglect of objects, not only space.

Question 20

Integrative conclusion – what are the two levels of attention?

Answer 20

Space-based (spotlight) and object-based (tracking/selection).

Question 21

Which unit is most fundamental for attentional selection?

Answer 21

Objects are fundamental units, supported by behavioral, clinical, and neuroimaging evidence.