Visual Attention Modulates Signal Detectability

• Published in: Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance 1990-11, Vol.16 (4), p.802-811
• Main Authors: Hawkins, Harold L, Hillyard, Steven A, Luck, Steven J, Mouloua, Mustapha, Downing, Cathryn J, Woodward, Donald P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Attention; Biological and medical sciences; Cues; Discrimination Learning; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Male; Orientation; Perception; Perceptual Masking; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychophysics; Sensory perception; Signal Detection (Perception); Social research; Spatial Organization; Vision; Visual Fields; Visual Perception
• ISSN: 0096-1523; 1939-1277
• DOI: 10.1037/0096-1523.16.4.802

The mechanism by which visual-spatial attention affects the detection of faint signals has been the subject of considerable debate. It is well known that spatial cuing speeds signal detection. This may imply that attentional cuing modulates the processing of sensory information during detection or, alternatively, that cuing acts to create decision bias favoring input at the cued location. These possibilities were evaluated in 3 spatial cuing experiments. Peripheral cues were used in Experiment 1 and central cues were used in Experiments 2 and 3. Cuing similarly enhanced measured sensitivity, P ( A ) and d ′, for simple luminance detection in all 3 experiments. Under some conditions it also induced shifts in decision criteria (beta). These findings indicate that visual-spatial attention facilitates the processing of sensory input during detection either by increasing sensory gain for inputs at cued locations or by prioritizing the processing of cued inputs.