From foreground to background: how task-neutral context influences contextual cueing of visual search

Selective attention determines the effectiveness of implicit contextual learning (e.g., Jiang & Leung, 2005). Visual foreground-background segmentation, on the other hand, is a key process in the guidance of attention (Wolfe, 2003). In the present study, we examined the impact of foreground-back...

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Main Authors: Xuelian eZang, Thomas eGeyer, Leonardo eAssumpção, Hermann Josef Mueller, Zhuanghua eShi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00852/full
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author Xuelian eZang
Xuelian eZang
Thomas eGeyer
Leonardo eAssumpção
Hermann Josef Mueller
Hermann Josef Mueller
Zhuanghua eShi
author_facet Xuelian eZang
Xuelian eZang
Thomas eGeyer
Leonardo eAssumpção
Hermann Josef Mueller
Hermann Josef Mueller
Zhuanghua eShi
author_sort Xuelian eZang
collection DOAJ
description Selective attention determines the effectiveness of implicit contextual learning (e.g., Jiang & Leung, 2005). Visual foreground-background segmentation, on the other hand, is a key process in the guidance of attention (Wolfe, 2003). In the present study, we examined the impact of foreground-background segmentation on contextual cueing of visual search in three experiments. A visual search display, consisting of distractor ‘L’s and a target ‘T’, was overlaid on a task-neutral cuboid on the same depth plane (Experiment 1), on stereoscopically separated depth planes (Experiment 2), or spread over the entire display on the same depth plane (Experiment 3). Half of the search displays contained repeated target-distractor arrangements, whereas the other half was always newly generated. The task-neutral cuboid was constant during an initial training session, but was either rotated by 90º or entirely removed in the subsequent test sessions. We found that the gains resulting from repeated presentation of display arrangements during training (i.e., contextual-cueing effects) were diminished when the cuboid was changed or removed in Experiment 1, but remained intact in Experiments 2 and 3 when the cuboid was placed in a different depth plane, or when the items were randomly spread over the whole display but not on the edges of the cuboid. These findings suggest that foreground-background segmentation occurs prior to contextual learning, and only objects/arrangements that are grouped as foreground are learned over the course of repeated visual search.
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spelling doaj.art-ff7e4ec7fea841efa3b12a873ef5d1b52022-12-22T01:29:00ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782016-06-01710.3389/fpsyg.2016.00852186653From foreground to background: how task-neutral context influences contextual cueing of visual searchXuelian eZang0Xuelian eZang1Thomas eGeyer2Leonardo eAssumpção3Hermann Josef Mueller4Hermann Josef Mueller5Zhuanghua eShi6Shenzhen UniversityLudwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenLudwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenLudwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenLudwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenBirkbeck College (University of London)Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenSelective attention determines the effectiveness of implicit contextual learning (e.g., Jiang & Leung, 2005). Visual foreground-background segmentation, on the other hand, is a key process in the guidance of attention (Wolfe, 2003). In the present study, we examined the impact of foreground-background segmentation on contextual cueing of visual search in three experiments. A visual search display, consisting of distractor ‘L’s and a target ‘T’, was overlaid on a task-neutral cuboid on the same depth plane (Experiment 1), on stereoscopically separated depth planes (Experiment 2), or spread over the entire display on the same depth plane (Experiment 3). Half of the search displays contained repeated target-distractor arrangements, whereas the other half was always newly generated. The task-neutral cuboid was constant during an initial training session, but was either rotated by 90º or entirely removed in the subsequent test sessions. We found that the gains resulting from repeated presentation of display arrangements during training (i.e., contextual-cueing effects) were diminished when the cuboid was changed or removed in Experiment 1, but remained intact in Experiments 2 and 3 when the cuboid was placed in a different depth plane, or when the items were randomly spread over the whole display but not on the edges of the cuboid. These findings suggest that foreground-background segmentation occurs prior to contextual learning, and only objects/arrangements that are grouped as foreground are learned over the course of repeated visual search.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00852/fullspatial memoryimplicit learningcontextual cueingGroupingForeground-background segmentation3D visual search
spellingShingle Xuelian eZang
Xuelian eZang
Thomas eGeyer
Leonardo eAssumpção
Hermann Josef Mueller
Hermann Josef Mueller
Zhuanghua eShi
From foreground to background: how task-neutral context influences contextual cueing of visual search
Frontiers in Psychology
spatial memory
implicit learning
contextual cueing
Grouping
Foreground-background segmentation
3D visual search
title From foreground to background: how task-neutral context influences contextual cueing of visual search
title_full From foreground to background: how task-neutral context influences contextual cueing of visual search
title_fullStr From foreground to background: how task-neutral context influences contextual cueing of visual search
title_full_unstemmed From foreground to background: how task-neutral context influences contextual cueing of visual search
title_short From foreground to background: how task-neutral context influences contextual cueing of visual search
title_sort from foreground to background how task neutral context influences contextual cueing of visual search
topic spatial memory
implicit learning
contextual cueing
Grouping
Foreground-background segmentation
3D visual search
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00852/full
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