Stimulus-driven and goal-driven control over visual selection.

Abstract
This article explored the extent to which stimulus-driven control over visual selection is modulated by goal-driven factors. Observers searched for a no-onset color target among 3 distractors and signaled its location either manually or with a saccade. Additional distractors appeared either with or without an abrupt onset and were either similar or dissimilar to the target. Abrupt onsets disrupted saccades to the target, especially when they shared the target color. Irrelevant onsets also interfered with the manual responses, but this interference was dependent on the particular type of manual response. Stimulus-driven and contingent capture can occur within a single paradigm, but the extent and nature of these effects depend on the specific response required. Theories of visual attention generally distinguish stimulus- driven selection from goal-driven selection (Egeth & Yantis, 1997). The former indicates that attention is captured by a visually salient object, irrespective of the observer's intentions. The latter indicates the deliberate allocation of attention to objects that are goal-relevant in a given behavioral context. Stimulus-driven attentional capture can be studied by having

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