Attention effects of moving and stationary single-element and multiple-element precues: Limits of automaticity

A multiple-element precue (MEP), in which one unique element defines the actual precue, results in efficient precuing for identification of a target. The time course for identification in this case is similar to that for a central precue, even though it is presented peripherally (Chastain, 1996; Chastain & Cheal, in press). Five experiments were conducted to gain further information on the function of MEPs and to question what advantage prior knowledge of the precue may give. In Experiments 1 and 2, it was shown that for “pop-out” features, accuracy of identification of a target was higher if the precue type was known in advance. In contrast, as shown in Experiments 3, 4, and 5, when the precue was defined by apparent motion, there was no difference in accuracy due to advanced knowledge of the precue. Further, accuracy was considerably better for motion precues than for stationary precues.