Contribution of Second-Order Visual Clues to the Management of Exogenous Attention in Solving the Identification Problem

   Introduction. It is known that the goals of exogenous attention are the most informative areas of the visual field. The results of recent scientific papers indicate a leading role in solving various visual problems of second-order clues — spatial inhomogeneities of brightness gradients. However, the question of the priority for the attention of particular spatial inhomogeneities has not been sufficiently studied.

   Purpose. To set the extent to which spatial modulations of different dimensions are prioritized for the observer’s exogenous attention when solving the problem of visual identification.

   Materials and Methods. With the help of a computer model of second-order visual filters, all information was removed from halftone images of objects of natural and artificial origins, except for modulations of a particular dimension. In experiment 1, images of different modulation dimensions competed for attention but with equal frequency content. In experiment 2, all three images competing for attention were represented by the same modulation dimension but with different frequency content. As an indicator of attracting attention, the first translation of the subject’s gaze after the
appearance of the stimulus was used. The study involved 75 subjects aged 19 to 23 with normal or adjusted-to-normal vision. The criterion χ² was used to determine the statistical significance of the results obtained.

   Results. It was found that among images of different dimensions of modulations, contrast and orientation modulations attracted attention more often. In the case when modulations of the same dimension competed for attention, the priority of images fell with an increase in the spatial frequency of the carrier.

   Discussion and Conclusion. The result obtained is explained by the fact that in the competition for exogenous attention, the advantage remains for areas with a larger amplitude of modulation of brightness gradients.

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