Contextual Cueing Task¶

HED Task ID: hedtsk_contextual_cueing

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¶

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¶

Variation	Description	Justification
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	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	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	Auditory or tactile context associated with visual target locations.	Auditory context cues visual search; cross-modal learning paradigm
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	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 engages the following cognitive processes:

Key references¶

{‘authors’: ‘Chun, M. M., & Jiang, Y.’, ‘year’: 1998, ‘title’: ‘Contextual Cueing: Implicit Learning and Memory of Visual Context Guides Spatial Attention’, ‘venue’: ‘Cognitive Psychology’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Cognitive Psychology’, ‘volume’: ‘36’, ‘issue’: ‘1’, ‘pages’: ‘28-71’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1006/cogp.1998.0681’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Chun, M. M., & Jiang, Y. (1998). Contextual cueing: Implicit learning and memory of visual context guides spatial attention. Cognitive Psychology, 36(1), 28–71.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1998.0681’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Chun, M. M., & Jiang, Y.’, ‘year’: 2003, ‘title’: ‘Implicit, long-term spatial contextual memory.’, ‘venue’: ‘Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition’, ‘volume’: ‘29’, ‘issue’: ‘2’, ‘pages’: ‘224-234’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037/0278-7393.29.2.224’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Chun, M. M., & Jiang, Y. (2003). Implicit, long-term spatial contextual memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29(2), 224–234.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.29.2.224’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Goujon, A., Didierjean, A., & Thorpe, S.’, ‘year’: 2015, ‘title’: ‘Investigating implicit statistical learning mechanisms through contextual cueing’, ‘venue’: ‘Trends in Cognitive Sciences’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Trends in Cognitive Sciences’, ‘volume’: ‘19’, ‘issue’: ‘9’, ‘pages’: ‘524-533’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.tics.2015.07.009’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Goujon, A., Didierjean, A., & Thorpe, S. (2015). Investigating implicit statistical learning mechanisms through contextual cueing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(9), 524–533.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.07.009’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

Recent references¶

{‘authors’: ‘Vadillo, M. A., Konstantinidis, E., & Shanks, D. R.’, ‘year’: 2022, ‘title’: ‘Underpowered samples, false negatives, and unconscious learning’, ‘venue’: ‘Psychonomic Bulletin & Review’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Psychonomic Bulletin & Review’, ‘volume’: ‘29’, ‘issue’: None, ‘pages’: ‘307–337’, ‘doi’: None, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Vadillo, M. A., Konstantinidis, E., & Shanks, D. R. (2022). Underpowered samples, false negatives, and unconscious learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 29, 307–337.’, ‘url’: None, ‘source’: ‘unresolved’, ‘confidence’: ‘none’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Zinchenko, A., Conci, M., Müller, H. J., & Geyer, T.’, ‘year’: 2018, ‘title’: ‘Predictive visual search: Role of environmental regularities in the learning of context cues’, ‘venue’: ‘Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics’, ‘volume’: ‘80’, ‘issue’: ‘5’, ‘pages’: ‘1096-1109’, ‘doi’: ‘10.3758/s13414-018-1500-4’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘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.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-018-1500-4’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Sisk, C. A., Remington, R. W., & Jiang, Y. V.’, ‘year’: 2019, ‘title’: ‘Mechanisms of contextual cueing: A tutorial review’, ‘venue’: ‘Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics’, ‘volume’: ‘81’, ‘issue’: ‘8’, ‘pages’: ‘2571-2589’, ‘doi’: ‘10.3758/s13414-019-01832-2’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Sisk, C. A., Remington, R. W., & Jiang, Y. V. (2019). Mechanisms of contextual cueing: A tutorial review. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81, 2571–2589.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-019-01832-2’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Annac, E., Conci, M., Müller, H. J., & Geyer, T.’, ‘year’: 2017, ‘title’: ‘Local item density modulates adaptation of learned contextual cues’, ‘venue’: ‘Visual Cognition’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Visual Cognition’, ‘volume’: ‘25’, ‘issue’: ‘1-3’, ‘pages’: ‘262-277’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1080/13506285.2017.1339158’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘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.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1080/13506285.2017.1339158’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}