Object attention revisited: identifying mechanisms and boundary conditions

Multiple attributes of a visual array are often more efficiently processed when they are attributes of a single object than when they are attributes of different objects—a pattern reflecting the limitations of object attention. This study used psychophysical methods to evaluate the object attention limitations in the report of attributes (orientation and phase) computed early in visual analysis for spatially separated objects. These limitations had large effects on dual-object report thresholds when different judgments were required for the two objects (orientation for one object and phase for the other), but the effects were small or nonexistent when the same judgment was made about both objects. Judgment consistency reduced or eliminated the expression of object attention deficits. Thus, the deficits in dual-object report reflect both division of attention over objects and the calculation of independent reference or judgment operations. Dual-object deficits, when they occurred, were substantial in displays with external noise masks. Smaller effects were observed in clear displays, even when difficulty was equated by stimulus contrast. Thus, the primary consequence of object attention is the exclusion of external noise, or mask suppression, and enhancement of the stimulus in clear displays is a secondary consequence.