Allocating visual attention to grouped objects

The purpose of the present study is to examine the allocation of visual attention to independent stimuli that are grouped together through a set of Gestalt principles. The basic display used in the experiments considered of a 4 x 4 matrix of place-holders, made up of 12 circles and 4 squares. In Experiment 1, the squares were located adjacent to each other (i.e., perceptually grouped together), whereas in Experiment 2 the squares were located in nonadjacent locations (i.e., not perceptually grouped). Following a peripheral cue at a square placeholder, faster detection responses were found for targets appearing in the noncued square placeholders than in corresponding circle placeholders for Experiment 1 were due to shape-based object priming. Experiment 4 extended the cue-target SOA to examine whether inhibition of return would spread through grouped objects - it did not. These findings provide new insights into the boundary conditions for what, exactly, constitutes an object.