The HED Task Catalog is under development. IDs are not stable until formal release. Comments are welcome at github.com/hed-standard/hed-task/issues.

Contextual Cueing Task

HED task ID: hedtsk_contextual_cueing

Family: Visual search and tracking tasks (also Conditioning, reinforcement and implicit learning tasks)

Also known as: CC Task

Visual search in which some distractor configurations repeat across blocks; faster search on repeated configurations indexes implicit spatial context learning.

Description

Participants perform visual search for a T-shaped target among L-shaped distractors. Critically, half the search displays repeat across blocks (with the target always in the same location within a given repeated display), while the other half are newly generated on each block. Search becomes faster for repeated displays over blocks, even though participants cannot consciously recognize which displays have been repeated. Chun and Jiang (1998) demonstrated that this contextual cueing effect reflects implicit learning and memory for spatial configurations that guide spatial attention to the likely target location. The paradigm has become a standard tool for studying the interface between attention, implicit learning, and long-term memory.

Inclusion test

An experiment is an instance of this task when its procedure matches, it manipulates at least one of the listed variables, and it records at least one of the listed measures.

Procedure

Visual search through letter arrays; some spatial configurations repeat across blocks while others are novel. Participants find and respond to a target embedded in the display.

Manipulation

Repeated vs. novel display configurations; number of repetitions across blocks; explicit awareness of repetition.

Measurement

RT advantage for repeated over novel configurations (contextual cueing effect); learning curve across blocks; recognition test for repeated displays.

Variations

Named versions that change what the participant experiences or does. The identifier of a variation is hedvar_<task>__<variation>.

Variation

Description

Justification

Standard Visual Search CC

hedvar_contextual_cueing__standard_visual_search_cc

T among L’s with repeated vs. novel configurations; the Chun & Jiang (1998) version.

Canonical: repeated spatial configurations implicitly facilitate target detection

Configuration-Based vs. Association-Based CC

hedvar_contextual_cueing__configuration_based_vs_association_based_cc

Manipulating whether the entire configuration or just target-distractor associations drive the effect.

Separates global configuration from local target-distractor association; different learning conditions

Semantic Contextual Cueing

hedvar_contextual_cueing__semantic_contextual_cueing

Meaningful scenes rather than letter arrays; contextual regularities in naturalistic visual environments.

Semantic scene content instead of arbitrary array; different memory system engaged

Cross-Modal Contextual Cueing

hedvar_contextual_cueing__cross_modal_contextual_cueing

Auditory or tactile context associated with visual target locations.

Auditory context cues visual search; cross-modal learning paradigm

Dynamic Contextual Cueing

hedvar_contextual_cueing__dynamic_contextual_cueing

Displays with moving elements; tests whether temporal-spatial regularities can be learned.

Moving-element arrays instead of static; different perceptual and memory demands

Transfer of Contextual Cueing

hedvar_contextual_cueing__transfer_of_contextual_cueing

Changing distractor identities or adding/removing distractors to test what aspects of context are learned.

Tests whether learned context transfers to new target locations; different probe phase

Cognitive processes

This task is designed to engage the following processes:

Key references

  • Chun, M. M., & Jiang, Y. (1998). Contextual cueing: Implicit learning and memory of visual context guides spatial attention. Cognitive Psychology, 36(1), 28–71. (DOI, PubMed)

  • Chun, M. M., & Jiang, Y. (2003). Implicit, long-term spatial contextual memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29(2), 224–234. (DOI, PubMed)

  • Goujon, A., Didierjean, A., & Thorpe, S. (2015). Investigating implicit statistical learning mechanisms through contextual cueing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(9), 524–533. (DOI, PubMed)

Further references

  • Vadillo, M. A., Konstantinidis, E., & Shanks, D. R. (2022). Underpowered samples, false negatives, and unconscious learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 29, 307–337.

  • Zinchenko, A., Conci, M., Müller, H. J., & Geyer, T. (2018). Predictive visual search: Role of environmental regularities in the learning of context cues. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 80, 1096–1109. (DOI, PubMed)

  • Sisk, C. A., Remington, R. W., & Jiang, Y. V. (2019). Mechanisms of contextual cueing: A tutorial review. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81, 2571–2589. (DOI, PubMed)

  • Annac, E., Conci, M., Müller, H. J., & Geyer, T. (2017). Local item density modulates adaptation of learned contextual cues. Visual Cognition, 25(1–3), 262–277. (DOI)