
Studies of Psychology and Behavior >
Task Difficulty Modulates Horizontal Advantage Rather than Pure Object-Based Attention in the Two-Rectangle Cuing Paradigm
Received date: 2024-04-18
Online published: 2025-11-13
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The impact of object orientation on object-based attention has been inconsistently reported in previous studies, which may be attributed to variations in task difficulty. This study used the two-rectangle cuing paradigm and systematically manipulated task difficulty to investigate the influence of object orientation on object-based attention in two experimental conditions: detection task versus simple discrimination task (Experiment 1), and simple discrimination task versus difficult discrimination task (Experiment 2). The results showed that as task difficulty increased, the horizontal advantage became more pronounced, which strengthened the influence of object orientation on object-based attention. However, pure object-based attention was unaffected by task difficulty or cue-target orientation. In Experiment 3, based on Experiment 2, a 45° tilt of the rectangular frame was introduced to eliminate the horizontal advantage, further confirming that pure object-based attention was independent of task difficulty and object orientation. This study clarifies previous controversies regarding the influence of object orientation on object-based attention and proposes an effective experimental method for isolating pure object-based attention by eliminating the horizontal advantage in the two-rectangle cuing paradigm.
Qi CHEN , Saisai HU , Jingjing ZHAO , Yonghui WANG . Task Difficulty Modulates Horizontal Advantage Rather than Pure Object-Based Attention in the Two-Rectangle Cuing Paradigm[J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2025 , 23(5) : 586 -594 . DOI: 10.12139/j.1672-0628.2025.05.002
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