Ignoring salient distractors inside of the attentional window

Salient stimuli are often assumed to have an inherent power to attract attention. However, formal research has shown that attentional capture by salient distractors can often be attenuated. This ability to ignore salient distractors is typically thought to reflect top-down control of attention. However, an alternative theory has been proposed. According to the attentional window account, attention can be narrowly focused to prevent salient distractors from capturing attention. Importantly, it has been suggested that most prior evidence of top-down control could be a result of narrow attentional focusing. The present study examined attentional capture by salient distractors under different breadths of attentional focus, using ERP indices of attentional selection. Participants completed a shape discrimination task. Importantly, the shapes were arranged so that a color singleton appeared either inside or outside of attentional focus. Across several experiments, we found that the color singleton did not elicit evidence of attentional capture, as measured by the N2pc component and behavioral indices. In addition, control conditions that required the color singleton to be attended did produce an N2pc, showing the paradigm was sensitive to detect attentional selection of the salient stimulus. Altogether, these findings suggest that attentional capture by salient stimuli can be prevented even when attention is broadly focused across an entire display. This is inconsistent with the attentional window account and instead supports models of attention that allow for top-control control.