Illusory conjunctions die hard: A reply to Prinzmetal, Diedrichsen, and Ivry (2001)

A Donk (1999) showed that various data patterns that have been considered a s evidence for the existence of illusory conjunctions may be due to errors of target-nontarget confusion, an account that challenges the mere existenc e of illusory conjunction. In a reply, W. Prinzmetal, J. Diedrichsen, and R . B. Ivry (2001) argued against this conclusion, claiming that some earlier findings can be explained only when one assumes that illusory conjunctions exist. The current article shows that Prinzmetal et al.'s claims cannot re fute any of Donk's earlier conclusions, suggesting indeed that one can only conclude that "illusory conjunctions are an illusion."