Object features, object locations, and object files: Which does selective attention activate and when?

The representation within which attention operates was investigated in 3 ex periments. The task was similar to that of R. Egly, J. Driver, and R. D. Ra fal (1994). Participants had to detect the presence of a target at 1 of 4 e nds of 2 shapes, differing in color and form. A precue appeared at 1 of the 4 possible corners. The 2 shapes occupied either the same or different loc ations in the cuing and target displays. The results showed that the cued o bject location was attended whether or not space was task relevant, whereas the cued object features (color and form) were attended only when these we re task relevant. Moreover, when object file continuity was maintained thro ugh continuous movement, attention was found to follow the cued object file as it moved while also accruing to the cued location.