NEGLIGIBLE EFFECT OF SPATIAL PRECUING ON IDENTIFICATION OF SINGLE DIGITS

The present study examined the effects of spatial precuing on identification of a single object appearing in an otherwise empty visual field. A digit target was preceded by a valid, neutral, or invalid location cue, presented either peripherally or centrally. The target was followed by either a single mask or multiple masks covering the target and nontarget (empty) locations. Precuing significantly affected identification accuracy when multiple masks were used but had little effect when the target was followed by a single mask. The results strongly favor a model in which spatial precuing allows the contents of noncued locations to be excluded from decision (and possibly perception). Exclusion may or may not facilitate performance, depending on what is there to be excluded.