BRIEF REPORT
Filtering visual onsets via habituation: A context-specific
long-term memory of irrelevant stimuli
Massimo Turatto
1,2
&
Francesca Bonetti
1
&
David Pascucci
3
Published online: 25 May 2017
#
Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2017
Abstract The fact that we are often immediately
attracted by sudden visual onsets provides a clear ad-
vantage for our survival. However, how can we resist
from being continuously distracted by irrelevant repeti-
tive onsets? Since the seminal work of Sokolov (1963),
habituation of the orienting of attention has long been
proposed to be a possible filtering mechanism. Here, in
two experiments, we provide novel evidence showing
that (a) habituation of capture of focused visual atten-
tion relies on a stored representation of the distractor
onsets in relation to their context, and (b) that once
formed such representation endures unchanged for
weeks without any further exposure to the distractors.
In agreement with the proposal of Wagner (1979)
concerning the associative nature of habituation, the re-
sults of Experiment 1 suggest that habituation of atten-
tional capture is context specific. Furthermore, the re-
sults of Experiment 2 show that to filter visual
distractors our cognitive system uses long-lasting mem-
ories of the irrelevant information. Although distractor
filtering can be implemented via top-down inhibitory
control, neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying ha-
bituation provide a straightforward explanation for the
reduced distraction obtained with training, thus working
like an automatic filter that prevents irrelevant recurring
stimuli from gaining access to higher stages of analysis.
Keywords Habituation
.
Attentional capture
.
Memory
.
Distractor filtering
The fact that visual attention is rapidly engaged by sudden
onsets is important for the survival of the organism, as through
this mechanism one can give immediate attentional priority to
potentially dangerous events and eventually react accordingly
(Jonides & Yantis, 1988). Regardless of whether the attention-
al capture is fully automatic or under top-down control (Folk
&Remington,2015; Folk, Remington, & Johnston, 1992),
should the organism be compulsively attracted by innocuous
repetitive onsets, the resulting orienting behavior would be-
come a waste of time and resources, and in the end disadvan-
tageous for survival. Hence, evolution must have also selected
a mechanism for suppressing the repetitive orienting of atten-
tion toward irrelevant onset stimuli when enough evidence has
accumulated that they pose no threat to the organism.
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the
cognitive and neural mechanisms that could permit to ignore
or attenuate the potentially distracting effect of irrelevant stim-
uli. A prominent view emerging from the Battention^ research
field postulates that distractor filtering is accomplished via
top-down control by actively suppressing irrelevant informa-
tion (e.g., Geng, 2014). In fact, the idea that the brain can learn
to disregard irrelevant information dates back to Pavlov’s
original study on the habituation of the orienting reflex (OR)
(Pavlov, 1927). Sokolov (1963) later studied more in detail the
OR and its habituation, and proposed the influential stimulus-
model comparator theory. By interacting with the world, the
brain would build a corresponding neural model, which is
constantly updated as a function of the stimuli encountered.
* Massimo Turatto
massimo.turatto@unitn.it
1
Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
2
Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of
Trento, Trento, Italy
3
Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg,
Fribourg, Switzerland
Psychon Bull Rev (2018) 25:1028–1034
DOI 10.3758/s13423-017-1320-x
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