Abstract
The human face is a visual pattern of great social and biological importance. While previous studies have shown that attention may be preferentially directed and engaged longer by faces, the current study presents a new methodology to test the notion that faces can capture attention. The present study uses the occurrence of inhibition of return (IOR) as a diagnostic tool to determine the allocation of attention in visual space. Because previous research suggested that IOR at a location in space only occurs after attention has been reflexively moved to that location, the current finding of IOR at the location of the face provides converging support for the claim that faces do have the ability to summon attention.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 657-665 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Visual Cognition |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2006 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Please address all correspondence to: Jan Theeuwes, Cognitive Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Boechorststraat 1, 1081BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: J.Theeuwes@ psy.vu.nl We thank Tony Ro for providing the photographs. We thank Mieke Donk, Donald Hoffman, Chris Olivers, and Philippe Schyns for helpful comments on the manuscript. This research was funded by a grant from NWO (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research), no. 402-01-630-PROG to JT.
Funding
Please address all correspondence to: Jan Theeuwes, Cognitive Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Boechorststraat 1, 1081BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: J.Theeuwes@ psy.vu.nl We thank Tony Ro for providing the photographs. We thank Mieke Donk, Donald Hoffman, Chris Olivers, and Philippe Schyns for helpful comments on the manuscript. This research was funded by a grant from NWO (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research), no. 402-01-630-PROG to JT.