The allocation of visual attention in categorical search: The effects of semantic and saliency information from the periphery of the visual field

Over the last three decades, visual cognition research has been investigating the influence of object semantics on early visual attention. Previous studies reported that object semantic information influences eye movement control during scene inspection. Notably, semantic effects on eye movements rarely occurred at initial stages of scene processing and were more evident during later shifts of attention. These findings contrast with the observation that object semantic information can be readily processed in peripheral vision from the first glimpse of a scene. The paradox in the literature is evident: if object semantic information in the visual periphery is processed rapidly and is able to guide gaze, why is there so little evidence of immediate semantic guidance of attention? Whether object semantic information can drive eye movements at early stages of scene processing is still controversial. In this talk, I present new evidence into this existing controversy by examining the effects of object semantic similarity and visual saliency on initial eye movements during search on object arrays.