The size of the cued area does not affect scaling of attentional focus on temporal order judgment task

Abstract

Purpose: Brief peripheral cues can attract the attentional focus allowing the advantageous processing of stimuli presented inside. It has been stated that the focus of attention is variable in width according to task requirements. The cue size can modulate the scaling of attention, i.e. the attentional focus can be concentrated in small regions or enlarged to include larger areas. In two experiments we manipulated the size and the cue lead time to investigate the scaling of attention using a temporal order judgment task (TOJ). Methods: The peripheral cue was an outlined square and the test stimuli were two letters (“F” and “J”). The letters were separated by a variable interval of 20 to 200 ms. In each trial one of the two letters was presented inside and the other outside of the frame. Cue lead time was 100 ms (Experiment 1) and 100 ms and 400 ms (Experiment 2). The participant's task was to judge what letter appeared first. Results: The stimulus presented inside the cue has an advantage in relation to the stimulus presented outside, and the short cue lead time produced more advantage than the long one, but without any influence of the cue size on the temporal perception. Conclusion: The manipulation of cue size did not affect the perception of temporal order, even when more time was given for the adjustment of the focus to the size of the cue. We discuss different mechanisms involved in processing of information for JOT and RT tasks.

Footnotes

 CNPq, Capes and NSERC.