Abstract
We investigated whether perceptual load theory holds when face distractors are irrelevant to central identification tasks. The present study examined whether human face distractors captured attention under conditions of high perceptual load when the faces were irrelevant to the task. The result indicated that a peripheral face distractor interfere the observer’s task, although load theory predicts no or reduced attentional capture. This finding suggests that attentional capture by an entirely task-irrelevant distractor occurred regardless of perceptual load. Additional experiments revealed that the capture effect was specific to faces; no capture was obtained with inverted face images or meaningful non-face images (e.g., food). Moreover, Experiment 4 replicated face-specific attentional capture even when the distractor did not share the temporal component of abrupt onset with the search array. These results extend the notion that faces are exceptions to load theory when faces and search items share no common display features.
