The characteristics of the attentive focus were investigated through the effect of local and global multiple cues, multiple and unitary, on the performance of a visual search task. The results show a gain in the performance of tests with valid multiple local cues; the gain is proportional to the size of the area in which the stimuli are presented. In the tests with valid local tips for the area there is a gain when the stimuli are presented in the larger area and a cost in the smaller area. Global cues do not generate a gain in tests with valid cues but are followed by a cost in tests with invalid cues. There is also a cost in tests where the attentive focus must be expanded or contracted. The results suggest that the model of multiple attentive focuses is more adequate to explain performance in tests with multiple local cues.
visual perception; visual attention; multiple local cues; global cues
