PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Ensemble processing allows the visual system to condense visual information into useful summary statistics (e.g., average size), thereby overcoming capacity limitations to visual working memory and attention. To examine the role of attention in ensemble processing, we conducted three experiments using a novel paradigm that merged the action effect (a manipulation of attention) and ensemble processing. Participants were instructed to make a simple action if the feature of a cue word corresponded to a subsequent shape. Immediately after, they were shown an ensemble display of eight ovals of varying sizes and were asked to report either the average size of all ovals or the size of a single oval from the set. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were cued with a task-relevant feature, and in Experiment 3, participants were cued with a task-irrelevant feature. Overall, the task-relevant cues that elicited an action influenced reports of average size in the ensemble phase more than the cues that were passively viewed, whereas task-irrelevant cues did not bias the reports of average size. The results of this study suggest that attention influences ensemble processing only when it is directed toward a task-relevant feature.
摘要：
集成处理允许视觉系统将视觉信息浓缩为有用的摘要统计信息(例如，平均大小)，从而克服了视觉工作记忆和注意力的容量限制。为了研究注意力在合奏处理中的作用，我们使用一种新颖的范式进行了三个实验，该范式融合了动作效果（注意力的操纵）和合奏处理。如果提示词的特征对应于随后的形状，则指示参与者做出简单的动作。紧接着,向他们展示了八个不同大小的椭圆形的集合显示，并要求他们报告所有椭圆形的平均大小或集合中单个椭圆形的大小。在实验1和2中，参与者被提示与任务相关的特征，在实验3中，参与者被提示与任务无关的特征。总的来说,引发动作的与任务相关的线索比被动观察的线索更多地影响合奏阶段的平均大小报告，而与任务无关的线索并没有偏倚平均大小的报告.这项研究的结果表明，仅当注意力针对与任务相关的特征时，注意力才会影响整体处理。
