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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Using Redundant Visual Information From Different Dimensions for Attentional Selection

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The present study investigated the use of redundant information for attentional selection of a visual object. Each display contained two overlapping objects, and participants had to report the color of the occluding object. A baseline condition did not require object selection because the objects were identical. A single-cue condition required object selection based on spatial arrangement (i.e., occlusion) because the objects had the same shape. A double-cue condition afforded object selection by occlusion and shape because the objects consistently differed in shape. Behavioral results showed that the redundant shape cue facilitated attentional selection, although participants were never supposed to respond to shape. The Event-Related Brain Potential (ERP) results showed a posterior N2 effect in both selection conditions, and a frontal N2 effect in the double-cue condition only. These results suggest that the redundancy gain in the double-cue condition relied on processes of voluntary attention, presumably the increase of attentional weights for visual shape information.