The effects of onsets and offsets on visual attention

Two experiments are presented which examine the effect of onset and offset cues on early occurring attentional cueing effects and later occurring inhibition of return (IOR). The first experiment compared the effects of single onset cues, single offset cues, and simultaneous onset and offset cues (at opposite locations) at a 100-ms stimulus-onset-asynchrony (SOA) and IOR at a 900-ms SOA. Whereas the first experiment examined these conditions with choice localization keypress responses, the second experiment used simple detection keypress responses. Both experiments found that onset and offset cues presented in isolation produce early facilitation and late IOR. When onset and offset cues were simultaneously presented, facilitation but not IOR was found with localization responses, while neither facilitation or IOR was found with detection responses. Overall, these findings suggest that offset cues can be treated in the same manner as onset cues by the attentional system, although the onset cues may have priority in orienting attention when targets must be localized in space.