Multiple attentional control settings influence late attentional selection but do not provide an early attentional filter

Abstract

When one is responding to targets containing a specific feature, non-predictive peripheral cues that share this feature lead to faster responses to the target, while cues that do not contain the target feature effectively are ignored, providing evidence for the role of attentional control settings (ACSs) in the contingent capture hypothesis. It is unclear, however, at what stage of processing multiple ACSs are implemented. We took advantage of the excellent temporal resolution of electroencephalography to demonstrate that the maintenance of multiple ACSs influences later stages of attentional selection rather than providing an early attentional filter. N2pc analyses for cues and targets revealed a similar degree of spatial capture for any peripheral cue, regardless of control settings, with target P3s reflecting the application of the ACS color contingencies.