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Interaction of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Search with Magnocellular- and Parvocellular-Mediated Stimuli

Garrett, James Samuel
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1464278964

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Wright State University, Human Factors and Industrial/Organizational Psychology PhD.
The current study simultaneously examined the potentiality of a magnocellular attentional advantage and the competition between top-down and bottom-up processing on attention during visual search as measured by covert and overt visual attention. Specifically, the study tested two opposing views of the competition between top-down and bottom-up processing. The contingent involuntary orienting hypothesis (Folk, Remington, & Johnston, 1992), states that goal directed search is not affected by target-irrelevant stimuli. In contrast, the distractor interference paradigm (Theeuwes, 1994), states that goal directed search can be affected by target-irrelevant stimuli if more salient than the rest of the search array. The study utilized a search array of contrast-equated orientation and spatial frequency modulated Gabor patches to preferentially activate the magnocellular and parvocellular visual streams in order to test for a magnocellular attentional advantage. Participants were asked to find a singleton target Gabor patch amongst a field of distractor Gabor patches. The results were mixed. Top-down search for a spatial frequency singleton provided support for the distractor interference paradigm while top-down search for an orientation singleton provided support for the contingent involuntary orientating hypothesis. These mixed results suggest top-down versus bottom-up search is more complicated than these two theories suggest. By demonstrating the effect of a target-irrelevant distractor on response time and accuracy, I provide that a bottom-up attentional priority exists when performing a top-down search for an orientation singleton, but not for a spatial frequency singleton. Additionally, the current study could find no evidence for a magnocellular attentional advantage.
Scott Watamaniuk, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Joseph Houpt, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Alan Pinkus, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Valerie Shalin, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
113 p.
Psychology
visual search; top-down; bottom-up; spatial frequency; magnocellular; parvocellular

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Garrett, J. S. (2016). Interaction of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Search with Magnocellular- and Parvocellular-Mediated Stimuli [Doctoral dissertation, Wright State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1464278964

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Garrett, James. Interaction of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Search with Magnocellular- and Parvocellular-Mediated Stimuli. 2016. Wright State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1464278964.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Garrett, James. "Interaction of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Search with Magnocellular- and Parvocellular-Mediated Stimuli." Doctoral dissertation, Wright State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1464278964

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

wright1464278964
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© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.