Individual Differences in Selective Attention Reveal the Nonmonotonicity of Visual Spatial Attention and Its Association With Working Memory Capacity

Abstract

Visual spatial attention is typically thought to have a facilitatory effect on processing that monotonically decreases with the distance from the center of attention (Posner, 1980). Some studies suggest that the distribution of attention across space is nonmonotonic, with suppression around the target object (Cutzu & Tsotsos, 2003; Muller et al., 2005). We show in two flanker-task experiments that discrepancies in past work can be unified by a surround inhibition account in which the shape of the attentional distribution is determined by individual differences in selective attention. The distance from the target at which flanker interference was locally suppressed differed greatly among participants and correlated negatively with working memory capacity. The results suggest that attentional control modulates the breadth of the attentional distribution, constrained by limited cognitive capacity, to enhance target identification.