In visual search tasks, presenting one set of distractors (previewing them) before a second set which contains the target, improves search efficiency compared to when all items appear simultaneously. It has been proposed that this preview benefit reflects an attentional bias against old...

Guided search is a mechanism that controls and optimizes the deployment of attention during visual search and allows one to pay attention only to highly relevant items. For instance, when searching for a conjunction of two features, we are able to select a feature-marked subset (e.g., all items...

Current models of visual search assume that visual attention can be guided by tuning attention toward specific feature values (e.g., particular size, color) or by inhibiting the features of the irrelevant nontargets. The present study demonstrates that attention and eye movements can also be...

Two, logically distinct but sometimes compatible, mechanisms of camouflage are background-matching and disruptive coloration. In the former, an animal's coloration comprises a random sample of the background, and so target--background discrimination is impeded. In the latter, object or feature...