Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1991 Aug;50(2):184-93.
doi: 10.3758/bf03212219.

Cross-dimensional perceptual selectivity

J Theeuwes  1
Affiliations

Cross-dimensional perceptual selectivity

J Theeuwes. Percept Psychophys. 1991 Aug.

Abstract

Three visual search experiments tested whether top-down selectivity toward particular stimulus dimensions is possible during preattentive parallel search. Subjects viewed multielement displays in which two salient items, each unique in a different dimension--that is, color and intensity (Experiment 1) or color and form (Experiments 2 and 3)--were simultaneously present. One of the dimensions defined the target; the other dimension served as distractor. The results indicate that when search is performed in parallel, top-down selectivity is not possible. These findings suggest that preattentive parallel search is strongly automatic, because it satisfies both the load-insensitivity and the unintentionality criteria of automaticity.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Acta Psychol (Amst). 1990 Jun;74(1):81-99 - PubMed
    1. Psychol Rev. 1988 Jan;95(1):15-48 - PubMed
    1. Acta Psychol (Amst). 1982 Jul;50(3):253-90 - PubMed
    1. Percept Psychophys. 1986 Jan;39(1):32-8 - PubMed
    1. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1985 Oct;11(5):583-97 - PubMed