Dumbalska, Tsvetomira;
Rudzka, Katarzyna;
Smithson, Hannah E;
Summerfield, Christopher;
(2022)
How do (perceptual) distracters distract?
PLoS Computational Biology
, 18
(10)
, Article e1010609. 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010609.
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Abstract
When a target stimulus occurs in the presence of distracters, decisions are less accurate. But how exactly do distracters affect choices? Here, we explored this question using measurement of human behaviour, psychophysical reverse correlation and computational modelling. We contrasted two models: one in which targets and distracters had independent influence on choices (independent model) and one in which distracters modulated choices in a way that depended on their similarity to the target (interaction model). Across three experiments, participants were asked to make fine orientation judgments about the tilt of a target grating presented adjacent to an irrelevant distracter. We found strong evidence for the interaction model, in that decisions were more sensitive when target and distracter were consistent relative to when they were inconsistent. This consistency bias occurred in the frame of reference of the decision, that is, it operated on decision values rather than on sensory signals, and surprisingly, it was independent of spatial attention. A normalization framework, where target features are normalized by the expectation and variability of the local context, successfully captures the observed pattern of results.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | How do (perceptual) distracters distract? |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010609 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010609 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright: © 2022 Dumbalska et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Biochemical Research Methods, Mathematical & Computational Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, VISUAL-SEARCH, SURROUND SUPPRESSION, SERIAL DEPENDENCE, NEURAL MECHANISMS, ATTENTION, MODEL, IDENTIFICATION, NORMALIZATION, PSYCHOPHYSICS, MODULATION |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10179127 |
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