Testing the controllability of contextual cuing of visual search.

Locating a target among distractors improves when the configuration of distractors consistently cues the target's location across search trials, an effect called contextual cuing of visual search (CC). The important issue of whether CC is automatic has previously been studied by asking whether it can occur implicitly (outside awareness). Here we ask the novel question: is CC of visual search controllable? In 3 experiments participants were exposed to a standard CC procedure during Phase 1. In Phase 2, they localized a new target, embedded in configurations (including the previous target) repeated from Phase 1. Despite robust contextual cuing, congruency effects - which would imply the orientation of attention towards the old target in repeated configurations - were found in none of the experiments. The results suggest that top-down control can be exerted over contextually-guided visual search.