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Investigating stimulus salience and perceptual load interaction using a Hybrid Visual Search-flanker Task

Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015.

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Other Authors: Schur, Clare
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2016
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Schur, Clare
author_browse Schur, Clare
author_facet Schur, Clare
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2016 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:30.213Z
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/53398 Investigating stimulus salience and perceptual load interaction using a Hybrid Visual Search-flanker Task Schur, Clare gsdejager@gmail.com Maree, David J.F. De Jager, Gerrit Stefanus UCTD Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. The perceptual load theory of selective attention proposed by Tsal and Lavie (1994) and Lavie (1995) argues that selective attention is predominantly necessitated by perceptual capacity limitations. In order to account for the experimental evidence where stimuli are attentionally selected either early or late, Lavie (1995) proposed that early selection occurs when perceptual capacity has been reached, while late selection occurs when perceptual capacity has not been reached. This effect has been demonstrated with the use of hybrid visual-search flanker search tasks on numerous occasions (Lavie, 2004). However, some researchers argue that the selection of stimuli is attributable to salience and not to perceptual load. Due to the increased salience of flankers in low perceptual load trials the distractor identity is much more readily processed, thereby leading to the distractor interference. Lavie (1995) attributes the increased distractor interference in low perceptual load trails to the automatic allocation of spare perceptual resources; a process that is mediated by perceptual load levels. This study investigates the potential interaction between perceptual load and distractor salience by presenting 20 participants with a hybrid visual-search flanker task, but placing salient colour singletons distractors in half the trials. The results indicate that the compatibility effect is largely nullified in low perceptual load trials containing salient distractors. The non-salient distractor trials, however, produced a significant compatibility effect as predicted by the perceptual load theory of selective attention. The lack of a significant compatibility effect in salient distractor trials might be an indication that top-down attentional control mechanisms can capitalise on the task-irrelevant colour feature to suppress the processing or perception of the distractor. This finding problematises the hypothesis that the automatic spill-over of perceptual capacity is responsible for the distractor interference in low perceptual load trials as necessitated by perceptual load theory. Psychology MA Unrestricted 2016-06-27T12:17:23Z 2016-06-27T12:17:23Z 2016-04-13 2015 Mini Dissertation De Jager, GS 2015, Investigating stimulus salience and perceptual load interaction using a Hybrid Visual Search-flanker Task, MA Mini Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/53398> A2016 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/53398 en © 2016 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Investigating stimulus salience and perceptual load interaction using a Hybrid Visual Search-flanker Task
title Investigating stimulus salience and perceptual load interaction using a Hybrid Visual Search-flanker Task
title_full Investigating stimulus salience and perceptual load interaction using a Hybrid Visual Search-flanker Task
title_fullStr Investigating stimulus salience and perceptual load interaction using a Hybrid Visual Search-flanker Task
title_full_unstemmed Investigating stimulus salience and perceptual load interaction using a Hybrid Visual Search-flanker Task
title_short Investigating stimulus salience and perceptual load interaction using a Hybrid Visual Search-flanker Task
title_sort investigating stimulus salience and perceptual load interaction using a hybrid visual search flanker task
topic UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/53398