Visual change with moving displays: More evidence for color feature map inhibition during preview search

Preview search with moving stimuli was investigated. The stimuli moved in multiple directions, and preview items could change either their color or their shape before onset of the new (search) displays. In Experiments 1 and 2, the authors found that (a) a preview benefit occurred even when more than 5 moving items had to be ignored, and (b) color change, but not shape change, disrupted preview search in moving stimuli. In contrast, shape change, but not color change, disrupted preview search in static stimuli (Experiments 3 and 4). Results suggest that preview search with moving displays is influenced by inhibition of a color map, whereas preview search with static displays is influenced by inhibition of locations of old distractors. The real world is full of moving images, as objects move or as people move around objects. A person’s ability to act on these objects, however, is fundamentally limited (e.g., Allport, 1993). People need means of selecting objects for action to optimize behavior, and this selection process needs to be sensitive not only to the spatial locations of relevant stimuli but also to temporal differences between old items that are no longer relevant for actio