S-ketamine influences strategic allocation of attention but not exogenous capture of attention.

We investigated whether s-ketamine differentially affects strategic allocation of attention. In Experiment 1, (1) a less visible cue was weakly masked by the onsets of competing placeholders or (2) a better visible cue was not masked because it was presented in isolation. Both types of cue appeared more often opposite of the target (75%) than at target position (25%).

Stimulus-driven attentional capture by subliminal onset cues.

In two experiments, we tested whether subliminal abrupt onset cues capture attention in a stimulus-driven way. An onset cue was presented 16 ms prior to the stimulus display that consisted of clearly visible color targets. The onset cue was presented either at the same side as the target (the valid cue condition) or on the opposite side of the target (the invalid cue condition).

Oculomotor capture by supraliminal and subliminal onset singletons: the role of contrast polarity.

According to a top-down explanation of subliminal oculomotor capture, only subliminal distractors with a contrast polarity matching that of the searched-for targets should capture attention. For instance, when looking for white targets only subliminal white but not black distractors should capture attention. In contrast, according to a bottom-up explanation of such capture effects, subliminal distractors with a contrast polarity different to that of the searched-for targets should also capture attention.

Parafoveal X-masks interfere with foveal word recognition: evidence from fixation-related brain potentials.

The boundary paradigm, in combination with parafoveal masks, is the main technique for studying parafoveal preprocessing during reading. The rationale is that the masks (e.g.

Exogenous attentional capture by subliminal abrupt-onset cues: evidence from contrast-polarity independent cueing effects.

In the present study, we tested whether subliminal abrupt-onset cues capture attention in a bottom-up or top-down controlled manner. For our tests, we varied the searched-for target-contrast polarity (i.e.

Inhibition of return is no hallmark of exogenous capture by unconscious cues.

Inhibition of irrelevant information and response tendencies is a central characteristic of conscious control and executive functions. However, recent theories in vision considered Inhibition of Return (IOR: slower responses to attended than unattended positions) to be a hallmark of automatic exogenous capture of visual attention by unconscious cues. In the present study, we show that an unconscious cue that exogenously captures attention does not lead to IOR.

Unconscious Cueing via the Superior Colliculi: Evidence from Searching for Onset and Color Targets.

According to the bottom-up theory of attention, unconscious abrupt onsets are highly salient and capture attention via the Superior Colliculi (SC). Crucially, abrupt onsets increase the perceived contrast. In line with the SC hypothesis, unconscious abrupt-onset cues capture attention regardless of the cue color when participants search for abrupt-onset targets (Experiment 1).

No conflict control in the absence of awareness.

Introduction: In the present study we tested whether control over the impact of potentially conflicting information depends on awareness of that conflicting information.

Method And Results: In Experiment 1 participants performed a response-priming task, with either masked or unmasked primes. Prime awareness was assessed on a trial-by-trial basis.

When attractiveness demands longer looks: the effects of situation and gender.

We investigated how aesthetics guides our exploration of the environment. We embedded attractive and nonattractive faces into complex, real-world scenes and measured eye movements during scene viewing. We examined whether attractive faces would elicit longer looks, which would suggest that the aesthetic response orients people toward the rewarding and pleasing aspects of the environment.