Inhibition of return following goal-directed orienting and stimulus-driven attentional capture

Inhibition of return is the slowing of responses to a target in a previously cued location. Although inhibition of return has been demonstrated in a number of different experimental settings, it has been found almost exclusively in situations in which attention has been cued exogenously to a location by a peripheral luminance change. It has not been found when attention is directed endogenously by a central arrow.; Recent findings from studies using visual search to examine attention have suggested that new perceptual objects, including those defined by an abrupt onset, are unique in their ability to automatically capture attention. Similarly, other peripheral events also capture attention when they are consistent with an observer's task related attentional control setting. An important question concerns whether the new perceptual objects and task related stimulus events will also lead to inhibition of return.; Inhibition of return following stimulus-driven and goal-directed orienting of attention was investigated in four experiments. Two experiments employed equiluminant texture changes that attracted attention producing an initial attentional benefit (in detection and discrimination) followed by inhibition of return. When the texture change did not define a new object, no facilitation or inhibition was observed. A third experiment demonstrated inhibition of return following the appearance of stimulus changes consistent with observers' attentional set. The same changes produced no attentional effects when they were inconsistent with the goals of the experiment. A final experiment replicated previous studies, failing to produce inhibition to a location cued by a central arrow.; The results bolster recent claims of the importance of new perceptual objects and extend our understanding of the effects of task related goals on attentional allocation. Specifically, they suggest that stimulus events that capture attention, whether in an automatic manner or because of their relevance to task goals, will also produce inhibition of return.