Information-optimal local features automatically attract covert and overt attention

COVERT ATTENTION FOLDER 

The "COVERT ATTENTION" folder contains one hundred .mat files (eight files for sixteen participants). 

The file name for each subject (from S01 to S16) describes:

Condition: Experimental or Control

Cue Validity: 50% or 80%

Type of trials: Neutral or Non-Neutral

Each matrix of Neutral trials and Non-Neutral Control trials contains 8 columns:

trial number

side of presentation of the gabor: 1=SX; 2=DX 

gabor orientation: 1 = -20°; 2 = +20°

gabor contrast

subject's response: 1 = -20°; 2 = +20°

correct response: 1= right; 0=wrong

trial type: 1= Valid trial; 2 = Invalid trial

Reaction time

Each matrix of Non-Neutral Experimental trials contains 10 columns:

trial number

side of presentation of the gabor: 1=SX; 2=DX 

gabor orientation: 1 = -20°; 2 = +20°

gabor contrast

subject's response: 1 = -20°; 2 = +20°

correct response: 1= right; 0=wrong

trial type: 1= Valid trial; 2 = Invalid trial

Identification code of the specific optimal feature presented

Identification code of the specific non-optimal feature presented

Reaction time

OVERT ATTENTION FOLDER

The file name for each subject (from S01 to S16) describes:

Condition: Experimental or Control

Cue Validity: 50% or 80%

The "OVERT ATTENTION" folder contains sixty-four .EDF files (four files for sixteen participants). The EyeLink EDF* files contain many types of data, including eye movement events (BLINKS, FIXATIONS, SACCADES), messages (including the “default” ones by Eyelink, and the custom made ones, defining the single trial’s specific properties: this type of messages starts with “Trialinfo”), button presses, and eye-data samples.  Here we have used the (calibrated) x and y position data of the right eye. Custom-made matlab scripts (available upon request to the authors) have been used to parse the data into trials, filter eye position and estimate eye velocity, select exploitable trials, detect and analyze saccades, etc. The EDF file format is a highly compressed binary format, intended for use with SR Research EyeLink viewers and applications. EDF files are not readable, they need to be transformed into a readable format (typically ASCII). A tool to transform edf files into ascii is freely available on the SR Research Support online forum site: https://download.sr-support.com/dispdoc/page25.html.

The folder also contains sixty-four .mat files (four files for sixteen participants), containing the relevant information of each trial.

Each matrix of the Control condition contains 5 columns:

trial number

side of presentation of the place holder: 1=SX; 2=DX 

Type of trial: 0 = Neutral, 1 = Valid, 2 = Invalid

Saccade to target: 1 correct saccade 0 no saccade

Saccade latency

Each matrix of Experimental condition contains 8 columns:

trial number

side of presentation of the place holder: 1=SX; 2=DX 

Identification code of the specific optimal feature presented

Identification code of the specific non-optimal feature presented

Type of trial: 3 = neutral, 4 = valid, 5 = invalid

Saccade to target: 1 correct saccade 0 no saccade

Saccade latency