OBJECT-BASED INHIBITION OF RETURN IN STATIC DISPLAYS

After attention has been oriented to a location, inhibition mechanisms prevent the return of attention shortly afterward. This inhibition ca n be associated with an object in such a way that after cuing attentio n to the object, inhibition can move with the object to a new location . Recent research has noted that the object-based inhibition of return effect in moving displays is much smaller than the effect observed in static displays, and hence may be of little functional utility. Howev er, we demonstrate that, on the contrary, the large effects observed i n static displays are produced precisely because of the existence of o bject-based frames, which can be additive with location-based frames o f reference.