TY - JOUR
T1 - The nature of Garner interference
T2 - The role of uncertainty, information, and variation in the breakdown in selective attention
AU - Niv, Lior
AU - Moran, Rani
AU - Algom, Daniel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - The popular measure of Garner Interference specifies the detriment to performance with the task-relevant attribute in the presence of a randomly varying distractor. But is irrelevant variation per se responsible for this breakdown of selective attention as the traditional account suggests? In this study we identified an overlooked alternative account – increased irrelevant information – which threatens the validity of the variation interpretation. We designed a new condition within the Garner paradigm, Roving Baseline, which allowed for dissociating the separate and combined contributions of information and variation at both macro and micro levels of analysis. A third account, increased number of stimuli or stimulus uncertainty, was also considered as well as the rival interpretations of configural processing and change detection. Our conceptual assay was complemented by a pair of dedicated experiments that included the novel Roving Baseline condition. The results of the theoretical analysis and of the experiments converged on supporting variability as the source of Garner interference. We found no evidence for an influence of information or of stimulus uncertainty. Our study thus adds further support for W. R. Garner's original intuition when designing the paradigm and the interference bearing his name.
AB - The popular measure of Garner Interference specifies the detriment to performance with the task-relevant attribute in the presence of a randomly varying distractor. But is irrelevant variation per se responsible for this breakdown of selective attention as the traditional account suggests? In this study we identified an overlooked alternative account – increased irrelevant information – which threatens the validity of the variation interpretation. We designed a new condition within the Garner paradigm, Roving Baseline, which allowed for dissociating the separate and combined contributions of information and variation at both macro and micro levels of analysis. A third account, increased number of stimuli or stimulus uncertainty, was also considered as well as the rival interpretations of configural processing and change detection. Our conceptual assay was complemented by a pair of dedicated experiments that included the novel Roving Baseline condition. The results of the theoretical analysis and of the experiments converged on supporting variability as the source of Garner interference. We found no evidence for an influence of information or of stimulus uncertainty. Our study thus adds further support for W. R. Garner's original intuition when designing the paradigm and the interference bearing his name.
KW - Distractors
KW - Garner-interference
KW - Information
KW - Stimulus uncertainty
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118893410&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104950
DO - 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104950
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C2 - 34768122
AN - SCOPUS:85118893410
SN - 0010-0277
VL - 218
JO - Cognition
JF - Cognition
M1 - 104950
ER -