The interplay of goal-driven and stimulus-driven influences on spatial orienting

Abstract

Search for a target stimulus among distractors is subject to both goal-driven and stimulus-driven influences. Variables that selectively modify these influences have shown strong interaction effects on saccade trajectories toward the target, suggesting the involvement of a shared spatial orienting mechanism. However, subsequent manual response times (RTs) have revealed additive effects, suggesting that different mechanisms are involved. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that an interaction for RTs is obscured by preceding multisaccade trajectories, promoted by the continuous presence of distractors in the display. In two experiments, we compared a condition in which distractors were removed soon after the presentation of the search display to a standard condition in which distractors were not removed. The results showed additive goal-driven and stimulus-driven effects on RTs in the standard condition, but an interaction when distractors were removed. These findings support the view that both variables influence a shared spatial orienting mechanism.