Illusory Conjunctions Are an Illusion: The Effects of Target-Nontarget Similarity on Conjunction and Feature Errors

The results of previous studies on visual perception suggest that conjunction errors partly derive from imperfect binding of correctly perceived features. However, the paradigms used in these studies do not generally allow one to discriminate between errors of feature binding and errors of target-nontarget confusion. In Experiments 1-4, an altered paradigm was used enabling discrimination between errors of feature binding and errors of target-nontarget confusion. The results showed that conjunction errors between color and identity do not derive from imperfect binding. In Experiments 5 and 6, a typical mainstream paradigm was used. The results indicated that, in such a paradigm, data patterns suggesting the existence of illusory conjunctions are likely to be due to errors of target-nontarget confusion instead of imperfect feature binding.