Action Properties of Object Images Facilitate Visual Search

There is mounting evidence that constraints from action can influence the early stages of object selection, even in the absence of any explicit preparation for action. Here, we examined whether action properties of images can influence visual search, and whether such effects were modulated by hand preference. Observers searched for an oddball target among 3 distractors. The search arrays consisted either of images of graspable "handles" ("action-related" stimuli), or images that were otherwise identical to the handles but in which the semicircular fulcrum element was reoriented so that the stimuli no longer looked like graspable objects ("non-action-related" stimuli). In Experiment 1, right-handed observers, who have been shown previously to prefer to use the right hand over the left for manual tasks, were faster to detect targets in action-related versus non-action-related arrays, and showed a response time (reaction time [RT]) advantage for rightward- versus leftward-oriented action-related handles. In Experiment 2, left-handed observers, who have been shown to use the left and right hands relatively equally in manual tasks, were also faster to detect targets in the action-related versus non-action-related arrays, but RTs were equally fast for rightward- and leftward-oriented handle targets. Together, our results suggest that action properties in images, and constraints for action imposed by preferences for manual interaction with objects, can influence attentional selection in the context of visual search. Public Significance Statement Images of graspable objects have been shown to attract attention relative to non-action-related images of objects. Here we show that when healthy adult observers search for a "target" object among a set of "distractors" in a visual array, search performance is faster when the images depict action-related objects compared to non-action-related objects. The extent to which action-related properties of images influenced search was also modulated by the observer's hand preference. Right-handers were faster to detect search targets when the handle of the action-related object was oriented so as to be compatible with a grasp by the dominant right hand. Conversely, in left-handers, who have been shown to use both the left and right hands equally during manual tasks, search was equally fast for both leftward- and rightward-oriented action-related targets. Together, the results demonstrate that constraints from action can influenc