The Use of Red and Automatic Attention Capture in Visual Search

Abstract

In many cultures, the color “red” is commonly associated with danger and has an established symbolic meaning that does not require explanation (i.e., a population stereotype). Because of the frequent mapping of red with situations requiring immediate attention, the proposed study employs a visual search task to examine whether the color red possesses automatic or involuntary attention-capturing qualities that other colors (e.g., blue) do not possess. Participants will search for red or blue targets in the presence of green distractors, and green targets in the presence of red or blue distractors. Also, participants will be cued in advance for the likely location of the target. If the frequent association of red with danger/warning makes the response to red an automatic or involuntary process, then search for green targets among red distractors will lead to the slowest response times despite the fact that target location is cued.