The Behavioral Cost of Memory-Driven Attentional Capture: Eye-Movement Evidence for Post-Capture Attentional Dwell
Abstract
During visual search, task-irrelevant distractors matching current visual working memory representations can capture attention, but less is known about how their influence continues after capture. Using a memory–search dual-task paradigm with eye tracking, we distinguished initial oculomotor selection from processing after distractor fixation and examined their associations with working memory capacity (WMC). Memory-matching distractors produced longer overall search RTs and were more likely than neutral distractors to receive the first fixation. When the critical distractor was not fixated, memory matching produced no reliable additional search-time cost. When it was fixated, however, memory matching prolonged conditional dwell time. WMC showed no clear association with the memory-matching effect on first fixation, whereas higher WMC was associated with less additional post-capture dwell. These findings indicate that the influence of memory matching can persist after attentional selection. The behavioral cost of memory-driven distraction may therefore reflect not only whether a distractor is selected, but also how processing unfolds after selection, with WMC-related differences more clearly expressed in post-capture processing than in initial oculomotor selection.
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