Spatial attention in early vision

The present study addressed whether the allocation of attention to a particular region in space can prevent processing of distracter information from non-attended regions. A cue indicated the area in visual space where the target singleton would be presented. Observers were required to detect this target singleton and ignore a distracter singleton presented within a non-attended region. The results indicate that the allocation of attention to a region in space cannot prevent the processing of unwanted information from elsewhere in the visual field. It is concluded that the Function of the allocation of attention is not to enhance the processing capacity within the attended region but rather to attenuate interference from distracters in unattended regions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.