OBJECT-RELATED ATTENTION - AN EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL STUDY

In two experiments reaction time (RT) and event-related potentials (ER Ps) were measured to visual stimuli consisting of two objects (Duncan, 1984; Vecera & Farah, 1994). Target stimuli were defined by two featu res, which either were distributed between the two objects or belonged to a single object. In Experiment I the two objects appeared in spati al overlap, whereas in Experiment 2 the two objects were spatially sep arated. In both experiments RT was shorter in the single-object condit ion. The late positive component of the ERP (P3) emerged, peaked, and declined earlier in the single-object condition. It is suggested that object-related attention may facilitate the earlier onset of search fo r the relevant features, (C) 1998 Academic Press.