Objects that direct visuospatial attention produce the search advantage for facing dyads

Vestner, T., Over, H., Gray, K. L. H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6071-4588 and Cook, R. (2022) Objects that direct visuospatial attention produce the search advantage for facing dyads. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 151 (1). pp. 161-171. ISSN 1939-2222 doi: 10.1037/xge0001067

Abstract/Summary

When hidden amongst pairs of individuals facing in the same direction, pairs of individuals arranged front-to-front are found faster in visual search tasks than pairs of individuals arranged back-to-back. Two rival explanations have been advanced to explain this search advantage for facing dyads. According to one account, the search advantage reflects the fact that front-to-front targets engage domain-specific social interaction processing that helps stimuli compete more effectively for limited attentional resources. Another view is that the effect is a by-product of the ability of individual heads and bodies to direct observers’ visuospatial attention. Here, we describe a two-part investigation that sought to test these accounts. First, we found that it is possible to replicate the search advantage with non-social objects. Next, we employed a cueing paradigm to investigate whether it is the ability of individual items to direct observers’ visuospatial attention that determines if an object category produces the search advantage for facing dyads. We found that the strength of the cueing effect produced by an object category correlated closely with the strength of the search advantage produced by that object category. Taken together, these results provide strong support for the directional cueing account.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/96598
Identification Number/DOI	10.1037/xge0001067
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Perception and Action
Publisher	American Psychological Association
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