Associate Professor
Overview
Stefanie was awarded a PhD in Cognitive Psychology / Experimental Psychology in 2007, from the University of Bielefeld, Germany, and was subsequently awarded two awards for it (amongst them the National German Dissertation Award). She then took up a 1-year post-doc position with Prof Roger Remington at UQ. Subsequently, her work was supported by various fellowships from UQ and the ARC, allowing Stefanie to focus mainly on research from 2009 - 2018. Afterwards she was employed on a Teaching and Research position at UQ, where she is currently employed as an Associate Professor.
Personal website: www.sibecker.com
Research Interests
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Emotion and Attention
Can emotional factors such as happy or angry faces involuntarily attract our attention, possibly because angry faces may constitute a threat? In my lab, this question has been intensely studied, often with EEG or eye movements, and our research has shown that both perceptual factors such as saliency and emotional states such as our own mood can modulate attention to emotional faces. -
Attention and Eye Movements in Visual Search
Visual search is one of the most frequent activities of everyday life, and often becomes quite frustrating when we cannot find our keys or phone. One of my core interests is to study the factors and mechanisms that drive visual search, and render it efficient or inefficient. Please see Projects at http://www.sibecker.com for further details.
Research Impacts
My research focus is broadly in the area of Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience, and specifically, in attention research. My perhaps most important contribution to date is that I formulated a new relational theory of attention and eye movements (Becker, 2010; JEP-General). Deviating from the most prominent feature-specific theories of attention, my research shows that attention can be tuned in a highly context-dependent manner to objects, to select the reddest, darkest or largest object. There is also a long-standing debate whether attention is controlled by stimulus-driven factors that are outside of of our control or goal-driven factors such as our intentions. My own work shows that we indeed have a large amount of control over visual selective attention, as we can tune attention to sought-after objects which then quickly attract the gaze when they are present. There are however also bottom-up limitations to this goal-driven selection process that can completely frustrate our attempts to find an object.
The findings are relevant, as conscious perception is severely capacity-limited: Attention selects objects for further processing and determines which items we can consciously appraise first. My own relational account has recently been extended to Inattentional Blindness, Awareness and Memory, allowing even more accurate predictions about what items we will consciously perceive first, and which we will miss. This has important implications about how we should design environments to ensure that important signals and signs capture our attention, and prevent that we miss them.
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Universität Bielefeld
Publications
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Journal Article: Faces capture spatial attention only when we want them to: An inattentional blindness EEG study
Qiu, Zeguo, Lei, Xue, Becker, Stefanie I. and Pegna, Alan J. (2023). Faces capture spatial attention only when we want them to: An inattentional blindness EEG study. Biological Psychology, 183 108665, 108665. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108665
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Journal Article: Tuning to non-veridical features in attention and perceptual decision-making: An EEG study
Becker, Stefanie I., Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary, Xia, Hongfeng and Qiu, Zeguo (2023). Tuning to non-veridical features in attention and perceptual decision-making: An EEG study. Neuropsychologia, 188 108634, 108634. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108634
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Journal Article: Fixation-related electrical potentials during a free visual search task reveal the timing of visual awareness
Qiu, Zeguo, Becker, Stefanie I., Xia, Hongfeng, Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary and Pegna, Alan J. (2023). Fixation-related electrical potentials during a free visual search task reveal the timing of visual awareness. iScience, 26 (7) 107148, 1-17. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107148
Grants
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Can the Relational Account predict search in multiple-element displays?
(2024–2028) ARC Discovery Projects
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Attention vs Perception: When is selection optimal, when relational?
(2021–2025) ARC Discovery Projects
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Testing a relational account for visual working memory
(2017–2020) ARC Discovery Projects
Supervision
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Investigating the importance of VSTM in visual attention vs target identification
Doctor Philosophy
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(2022) Doctor Philosophy
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How relational features modulate attention, awareness and visual short-term memory (VSTM)
(2019) Doctor Philosophy
Available Projects
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Attention and eye movements
There are continuously a range of projects available in my lab to work on visual attention and/or eye movements. The exact topic is negotiated with students. PhD students will learn how to program experiments, analyse the data, present the results to the lab as well as at conferences, and write up the results for publication. The dissertation or PhD thesis usually consists of 3 research articles with 2-3 experiments each, a general introduction and general discussion. Students from my lab are encouraged to present their work at conferences nationally as well as overseas, and to visit other labs to further hone their skills.
Publications
Book Chapter
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Guidance of attention by feature relationships: the end of the road for feature map theories?
Becker, Stefanie I. (2014). Guidance of attention by feature relationships: the end of the road for feature map theories?. Current trends in eye tracking research. (pp. 37-49) edited by Mike Horsley, Matt Eliot, Bruce Allen Knight and Ronan Reilly. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-02868-2_3
Journal Article
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Faces capture spatial attention only when we want them to: An inattentional blindness EEG study
Qiu, Zeguo, Lei, Xue, Becker, Stefanie I. and Pegna, Alan J. (2023). Faces capture spatial attention only when we want them to: An inattentional blindness EEG study. Biological Psychology, 183 108665, 108665. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108665
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Tuning to non-veridical features in attention and perceptual decision-making: An EEG study
Becker, Stefanie I., Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary, Xia, Hongfeng and Qiu, Zeguo (2023). Tuning to non-veridical features in attention and perceptual decision-making: An EEG study. Neuropsychologia, 188 108634, 108634. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108634
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Qiu, Zeguo, Becker, Stefanie I., Xia, Hongfeng, Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary and Pegna, Alan J. (2023). Fixation-related electrical potentials during a free visual search task reveal the timing of visual awareness. iScience, 26 (7) 107148, 1-17. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107148
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Attentional selection is a sufficient cause for visual working memory interference
Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary and Becker, Stefanie I. (2023). Attentional selection is a sufficient cause for visual working memory interference. Journal of Vision, 23 (7) 15, 1-11. doi: 10.1167/jov.23.7.15
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Becker, Stefanie I., Grubert, Anna, Horstmann, Gernot and Ansorge, Ulrich (2023). Which processes dominate visual search: bottom-up feature contrast, top-down tuning or trial history?. Cognition, 236 105420, 1-17. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105420
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Good-enough attentional guidance
Yu, Xinger, Zhou, Zhiheng, Becker, Stefanie I., Boettcher, Sage E. P. and Geng, Joy J. (2023). Good-enough attentional guidance. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 27 (4), 391-403. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.01.007
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Qiu, Zeguo, Jiang, Jiaqin, Becker, Stefanie I. and Pegna, Alan J. (2023). Attentional capture by fearful faces requires consciousness and is modulated by task-relevancy: a dot-probe EEG study. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 17 1152220, 1152220. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1152220
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Attentional prioritisation and facilitation for similar stimuli in visual working memory
Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary, Low, Jia Xuan and Becker, Stefanie I. (2023). Attentional prioritisation and facilitation for similar stimuli in visual working memory. Psychological Research, 87 (7), 1-8. doi: 10.1007/s00426-023-01790-3
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Mirror blindness: our failure to recognize the target in search for mirror-reversed shapes
Becker, Stefanie I., Retell, James D. and Wolfe, Jeremy M. (2023). Mirror blindness: our failure to recognize the target in search for mirror-reversed shapes. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 85 (2), 418-437. doi: 10.3758/s13414-022-02641-w
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Semi-supervised EEG clustering with multiple constraints
Dai, Chenglong, Wu, Jia, Monaghan, Jessica J. M., Li, Guanghui, Peng, Hao, Becker, Stefanie I. and McAlpine, David (2022). Semi-supervised EEG clustering with multiple constraints. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 35 (8), 1-15. doi: 10.1109/tkde.2022.3206330
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Qiu, Zeguo, Becker, Stefanie I. and Pegna, Alan J. (2022). Spatial attention shifting to fearful faces depends on visual awareness in attentional blink: an ERP study. Neuropsychologia, 172 108283, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108283
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Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary, Chang, Seah, Egeth, Howard and Becker, Stefanie I. (2022). Eye movements reveal the contributions of early and late processes of enhancement and suppression to the guidance of visual search. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 84 (6), 1913-1924. doi: 10.3758/s13414-022-02536-w
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ShVEEGc: EEG clustering with improved cosine similarity-transformed shapley value
Li, Guanghui, Shen, Jiahua, Dai, Chenglong, Wu, Jia and Becker, Stefanie I. (2022). ShVEEGc: EEG clustering with improved cosine similarity-transformed shapley value. IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computational Intelligence, PP (99), 1-15. doi: 10.1109/tetci.2022.3189385
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Qiu, Zeguo, Becker, Stefanie I. and Pegna, Alan J. (2022). The effects of spatial attention focus and visual awareness on the processing of fearful faces: an ERP study. Brain Sciences, 12 (7) 823. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12070823
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Qiu, Zeguo, Lei, Xue, Becker, Stefanie I. and Pegna, Alan J. (2022). Neural activities during the processing of unattended and unseen emotional faces: a voxel-wise meta-analysis. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 16 (5), 2426-2443. doi: 10.1007/s11682-022-00697-8
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Spatial attention shifting to emotional faces is contingent on awareness and task relevancy
Qiu, Zeguo, Becker, Stefanie I. and Pegna, Alan J. (2022). Spatial attention shifting to emotional faces is contingent on awareness and task relevancy. Cortex, 151, 30-48. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.02.009
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Inhibition continues to guide search under concurrent visual working memory load
Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary and Becker, Stefanie I. (2022). Inhibition continues to guide search under concurrent visual working memory load. Journal of Vision, 22 (2) 8, 1-17. doi: 10.1167/jov.22.2.8
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A relational account of visual short-term memory (VSTM)
Martin, Aimee and Becker, Stefanie I. (2021). A relational account of visual short-term memory (VSTM). Cortex, 144, 151-167. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.08.013
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The attentional template in high and low similarity search: Optimal tuning or tuning to relations?
Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary and Becker, Stefanie I. (2021). The attentional template in high and low similarity search: Optimal tuning or tuning to relations?. Cognition, 212 104732, 104732. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104732
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Electroencephalogram signal clustering with convex cooperative games
Dai, Chenglong, Wu, Jia, Pi, Dechang, Cui, Lin, Johnson, Blake and Becker, Stefanie I. (2021). Electroencephalogram signal clustering with convex cooperative games. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, PP (99), 1-1. doi: 10.1109/tkde.2021.3060742
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Attention is prioritised for proximate and approaching fearful faces
Martin, Aimee, Becker, Stefanie I. and Pegna, Alan J. (2021). Attention is prioritised for proximate and approaching fearful faces. Cortex, 134, 52-64. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.10.011
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Dual target search: attention tuned to relative features, both within and across dimensions
York, Ashley A., Sewell, David K. and Becker, Stefanie I. (2020). Dual target search: attention tuned to relative features, both within and across dimensions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance., 46 (11), 1368-1386. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000851
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Shapelet-transformed multi-channel EEG channel selection
Dai, Chenglong, Pi, Dechang and Becker, Stefanie I. (2020). Shapelet-transformed multi-channel EEG channel selection. ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology, 11 (5) 58, 1-27. doi: 10.1145/3397850
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Harris, Anthony M., Jacoby, Oscar, Remington, Roger W., Becker, Stefanie I. and Mattingley, Jason B. (2020). Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for a dissociation between working memory capacity and feature-based attention. Cortex, 129, 158-174. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.009
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York, Ashley and Becker, Stefanie I. (2020). Top-down modulation of gaze capture: feature similarity, optimal tuning, or tuning to relative features?. Journal of Vision, 20 (4) 6, 1-16. doi: 10.1167/jov.20.4.6
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Brain EEG time-series clustering using maximum-weight clique
Dai, Chenglong, Wu, Jia, Pi, Dechang, Becker, Stefanie I., Cui, Lin, Zhang, Qin and Johnson, Blake (2020). Brain EEG time-series clustering using maximum-weight clique. IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, 52 (1), 1-15. doi: 10.1109/tcyb.2020.2974776
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CenEEGs: valid EEG selection for classification
Dai, Chenglong, Pi, Dechang, Becker, Stefanie I., Wu, Jia, Cui, Lin and Johnson, Blake (2020). CenEEGs: valid EEG selection for classification. ACM Transactions on Knowledge Discovery from Data, 14 (2) A18, 18-25. doi: 10.1145/3371153
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Novelty competes with saliency for attention
Ernst, Daniel, Becker, Stefanie and Horstmann, Gernot (2020). Novelty competes with saliency for attention. Vision Research, 168, 42-52. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2020.01.004
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Attentional capture by context cues, not inhibition of cue singletons, explains same location costs
Schönhammer, Josef G., Becker, Stefanie I. and Kerzel, Dirk (2020). Attentional capture by context cues, not inhibition of cue singletons, explains same location costs. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 46 (6), 1-19. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000735
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Dwelling on simple stimuli in visual search
Horstmann, Gernot, Becker, Stefanie I. and Grubert, Anna (2020). Dwelling on simple stimuli in visual search. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 82 (2), 607-625. doi: 10.3758/s13414-019-01872-8
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The attentional blink: a relational account of attentional engagement
Becker, Stefanie I., Manoharan, Rheaa T. and Folk, Charles L. (2020). The attentional blink: a relational account of attentional engagement. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 28 (1), 219-227. doi: 10.3758/s13423-020-01813-9
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The role of the frontoparietal cortex across the functional stages of visual search
Remington, Roger W., Vromen, Joyce M. G., Becker, Stefanie I., Baumann, Oliver and Mattingley, Jason B. (2020). The role of the frontoparietal cortex across the functional stages of visual search. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 33 (1), 1-14. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_01632
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Target templates in singleton search vs. feature-based search modes
Becker, Stefanie I., Martin, Aimee and Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary (2019). Target templates in singleton search vs. feature-based search modes. Visual Cognition, 27 (5-8), 1-16. doi: 10.1080/13506285.2019.1676352
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Conjunction search: can we simultaneously bias attention to features and relations?
Becker, Stefanie I., Atalla, Marina and Folk, Charles L. (2019). Conjunction search: can we simultaneously bias attention to features and relations?. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 82 (1), 246-268. doi: 10.3758/s13414-019-01807-3
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Dwelling on distractors varying in target-distractor similarity
Horstmann, Gernot, Ernst, Daniel and Becker, Stefanie (2019). Dwelling on distractors varying in target-distractor similarity. Acta Psychologica, 198 102859, 102859. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.05.011
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Attending object features interferes with visual working memory regardless of eye-movements
Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary and Becker, Stefanie I. (2019). Attending object features interferes with visual working memory regardless of eye-movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 45 (8), 1049-1061. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000651
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Horstmann, Gernot and Becker, Stefanie I. (2019). More efficient visual search for happy faces may not indicate guidance, but rather faster distractor rejection: Evidence from eye movements and fixations. Emotion, 20 (2), 206-216. doi: 10.1037/emo0000536
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Cornish, Lillian, Hill, Andrew, Horswill, Mark S., Becker, Stefanie I. and Watson, Marcus O. (2019). Eye-tracking reveals how observation chart design features affect the detection of patient deterioration: an experimental study. Applied Ergonomics, 75, 230-242. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2018.10.005
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How feature relationships influence attention and awareness: Evidence from eye movements and EEG
Martin, Aimee and Becker, Stefanie I. (2018). How feature relationships influence attention and awareness: Evidence from eye movements and EEG. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 44 (12), 1865-1883. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000574
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The curious case of spillover: does it tell us much about saccade timing in reading?
Remington, Roger W., Burt, Jennifer S. and Becker, Stefanie I. (2018). The curious case of spillover: does it tell us much about saccade timing in reading?. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 80 (7), 1-8. doi: 10.3758/s13414-018-1544-5
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Reply to Theeuwes: Fast Feature-based Top-down Effects, but Saliency May be Slow
Becker, Stefanie I. (2018). Reply to Theeuwes: Fast Feature-based Top-down Effects, but Saliency May be Slow. Journal of Cognition, 1 (1) 28, 28. doi: 10.5334/joc.23
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Conjunction search is relational: behavioral and electrophysiological evidence
Becker, Stefanie I., Harris, Anthony M., York, Ashley and Choi, Jessica (2017). Conjunction search is relational: behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 43 (10), 1828-1842. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000371
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Linking contemporary research to the classics: Celebrating 125 years at APA
Enns, James T., Becker, Stefanie I., Brockmole, James, Castelhano, Monica, Creem-Regehr, Sarah, Gray, Rob, Hecht, Heiko, Juhasz, Barbara, Philbeck, John and Woodman, Geoffrey (2017). Linking contemporary research to the classics: Celebrating 125 years at APA. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 43 (10), 1695-1700. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000473
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Horstmann, Gernot, Becker, Stefanie and Ernst, Daniel (2017). Dwelling, rescanning, and skipping of distractors explain search efficiency in difficult search better than guidance by the target. Visual Cognition, 25 (1-3), 291-305. doi: 10.1080/13506285.2017.1347591
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Which kind of attention is captured by cues with the relative target colour?
Schonhammer, Josef G., Becker, Stefanie I. and Kerzel, Dirk (2017). Which kind of attention is captured by cues with the relative target colour?. Visual Cognition, 25 (7-8), 703-714. doi: 10.1080/13506285.2017.1323811
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The capture of attention and gaze in the search for emotional photographic faces
Becker, Stefanie I., Dutt, Neelam, Vromen, Joyce M. G. and Horstmann, Gernot (2017). The capture of attention and gaze in the search for emotional photographic faces. Visual Cognition, 25 (1-3), 241-261. doi: 10.1080/13506285.2017.1333182
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Constable, Merryn D. and Becker, Stefanie I. (2017). Right away: A late, right-lateralized category effect complements an early, left-lateralized category effect in visual search. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 24 (5), 1611-1619. doi: 10.3758/s13423-017-1246-3
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Top-down knowledge modulates onset capture in a feedforward manner
Becker, Stefanie I., Lewis, Amanda J. and Axtens, Jenna E. (2017). Top-down knowledge modulates onset capture in a feedforward manner. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 24 (2), 436-446. doi: 10.3758/s13423-016-1134-2
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Perceptual salience captures the eyes on a surprise trial
Horstmann, Gernot, Becker, Stefanie and Ernst, Daniel (2016). Perceptual salience captures the eyes on a surprise trial. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 78 (7), 1889-1900. doi: 10.3758/s13414-016-1102-y
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Vromen, Joyce M. G., Lipp, Ottmar V., Remington, Roger W. and Becker, Stefanie I. (2016). Threat captures attention, but not automatically: top-down goals modulate attentional orienting to threat distractors. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 78 (7), 2266-2279. doi: 10.3758/s13414-016-1142-3
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Horstmann, Gernot, Herwig, Arvid and Becker, Stefanie I. (2016). Distractor dwelling, skipping, and revisiting determine target absent performance in difficult visual search. Frontiers in Psychology, 7 (1152) 01152, 1-13. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01152
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Retell, James D., Becker, Stefanie I. and Remington, Roger W. (2016). An effective attentional set for a specific colour does not prevent capture by infrequently presented motion distractors. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69 (7), 1340-1365. doi: 10.1080/17470218.2015.1080738
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Attentional guidance by relative features: behavioral and electrophysiological evidence
Schonhammer, Josef G., Grubert, Anna, Kerzel, Dirk and Becker, Stefanie I. (2016). Attentional guidance by relative features: behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. Psychophysiology, 53 (7), 1074-1083. doi: 10.1111/psyp.12645
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Previously seen and expected stimuli elicit surprise in the context of visual search
Retell, James D., Becker, Stefanie I. and Remington, Roger W. (2016). Previously seen and expected stimuli elicit surprise in the context of visual search. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 78 (3), 774-788. doi: 10.3758/s13414-015-1052-9
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Visual search for emotional expressions: effect of stimulus set on anger and happiness superiority
Savage, Ruth A, Becker, Stefanie I and Lipp, Ottmar V (2016). Visual search for emotional expressions: effect of stimulus set on anger and happiness superiority. Cognition and Emotion, 30 (4), 713-730. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2015.1027663
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Capture by colour: evidence for dimension-specific singleton capture
Harris, Anthony M., Becker, Stefanie I. and Remington, Roger W. (2015). Capture by colour: evidence for dimension-specific singleton capture. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 77 (7), 2305-2321. doi: 10.3758/s13414-015-0927-0
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Are age effects in positivity influenced by the valence of distractors?
Ziaei, Maryam, von Hippel, William, Henry, Julie D. and Becker, Stefanie I. (2015). Are age effects in positivity influenced by the valence of distractors?. PLoS One, 10 (9) e0137604, 1-15. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137604
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Feature-based attention modulates onset capture in a feed-forward manner
Becker, Stefanie (2015). Feature-based attention modulates onset capture in a feed-forward manner. Journal of Vision, 15 (12). doi: 10.1167/15.12.1260
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Oculomotor capture by the unexpected: exploring the temporal profile of surprise in visual search
Retell, James, Venini, Dustin and Becker, Stefanie (2015). Oculomotor capture by the unexpected: exploring the temporal profile of surprise in visual search. Journal of Vision, 15 (12). doi: 10.1167/15.12.310
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Right away! Early, lateralised color category effect revealed by first-saccade dynamics
Constable, Merryn and Becker, Stefanie (2015). Right away! Early, lateralised color category effect revealed by first-saccade dynamics. Journal of Vision, 15 (12). doi: 10.1167/15.12.1168
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Oculomotor Capture by New and Unannounced Color Singletons during Visual Search
Retell, James D, Venini, Dustin and Becker, Stefanie I (2015). Oculomotor Capture by New and Unannounced Color Singletons during Visual Search. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 77 (5), 1529-1543. doi: 10.3758/s13414-015-0888-3
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Oculomotor capture by irrelevant onsets with and without color contrast
Becker, Stefanie I. and Lewis, Amanda Jane (2015). Oculomotor capture by irrelevant onsets with and without color contrast. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1339 (1), 60-71. doi: 10.1111/nyas.12685
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Becker, Stefanie I., Grubert, Anna and Dux, Paul E. (2014). Distinct neural networks for target feature versus dimension changes in visual search, as revealed by EEG and fMRI. NeuroImage, 102 (P2), 798-808. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.08.058
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Implicit false-belief processing in the human brain
Schneider, Dana, Slaughter, Virginia P., Becker, Stefanie I. and Dux, Paul E. (2014). Implicit false-belief processing in the human brain. NeuroImage, 101, 268-275. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.07.014
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Color priming in pop-out search depends on the relative color of the target
Becker, Stefanie I., Valuch, Christian and Ansorge, Ulrich (2014). Color priming in pop-out search depends on the relative color of the target. Frontiers in Psychology, 5 (APR) Article 289, 289. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00289
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Contingent capture in cueing: the role of color search templates and cue-target color relations
Ansorge, Ulrich and Becker, Stefanie I. (2014). Contingent capture in cueing: the role of color search templates and cue-target color relations. Psychological Research, 78 (2), 209-221. doi: 10.1007/s00426-013-0497-5
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Centre-of-gravity fixations in visual search: when looking at nothing helps to find something
Venini, Dustin, Remington, Roger W., Horstmann, Gernot and Becker, Stefanie I. (2014). Centre-of-gravity fixations in visual search: when looking at nothing helps to find something. Journal of Ophthalmology, 2014 237812, 237812-14. doi: 10.1155/2014/237812
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Craig, Belinda M., Becker, Stefanie I. and Lipp, Ottmar V. (2014). Different faces in the crowd: a happiness superiority effect for schematic faces in heterogeneous backgrounds. Emotion, 14 (4), 794-803. doi: 10.1037/a0036043
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Becker, Stefanie I., Horstmann, Gernot and Herwig, Arvid (2014). Eye movement control. Journal of Ophthalmology, 2014 (262541) 262541, 1-2. doi: 10.1155/2014/262541
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Becker, Stefanie I., Harris, Anthony M., Venini, Dustin and Retell, James D. (2014). Visual search for color and shape: when is the gaze guided by feature relationships, when by feature values?. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 40 (1), 264-291. doi: 10.1037/a0033489
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Why you cannot map attention: a relational theory of attention and eye movements
Becker, Stefanie I. (2013). Why you cannot map attention: a relational theory of attention and eye movements. Australian Psychologist, 48 (6), 389-398. doi: 10.1111/ap.12028
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In search of the emotional face: anger versus happiness superiority in visual search
Savage, Ruth A., Lipp, Ottmar V., Craig, Belinda M., Becker, Stefanie I. and Horstmann, Gernot (2013). In search of the emotional face: anger versus happiness superiority in visual search. Emotion, 13 (4), 758-768. doi: 10.1037/a0031970
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Everything is relative: contingent capture depends on feature relationships
Becker, Stefanie I., Folk, and Remington, Roger W. (2013). Everything is relative: contingent capture depends on feature relationships. Journal of Vision, 13 (9), 772-772. doi: 10.1167/13.9.772
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Task-dependent priming of fixation selection for recognition of natural scenes
Valuch, Christian, Becker, Stefanie I. and Ansorge, Ulrich (2013). Task-dependent priming of fixation selection for recognition of natural scenes. Journal of Vision, 13 (9), 924-924. doi: 10.1167/13.9.924
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Simply shapely: relative, not absolute shapes are primed in pop-out search
Becker, Stefanie I. (2013). Simply shapely: relative, not absolute shapes are primed in pop-out search. Attention Perception and Psychophysics, 75 (5), 845-861. doi: 10.3758/s13414-013-0433-1
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Feature specificity in attentional capture by size and color
Harris, Anthony M., Remington, Roger W. and Becker, Stefanie I. (2013). Feature specificity in attentional capture by size and color. Journal of Vision, 13 (3) 12, 12.1-12.15. doi: 10.1167/13.3.12
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Attentional capture does not depend on feature similarity, but on target-nontarget relations
Becker, Stefanie I., Folk, Charles L. and Remington, Roger W. (2013). Attentional capture does not depend on feature similarity, but on target-nontarget relations. Psychological Science, 24 (5), 634-647. doi: 10.1177/0956797612458528
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Higher set sizes in pop-out search displays do not eliminate priming or enhance target selection
Becker, Stefanie I. and Ansorge, Ulrich (2013). Higher set sizes in pop-out search displays do not eliminate priming or enhance target selection. Vision Research, 81, 18-28. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2013.01.009
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The role of task-related learned representations in explaining asymmetries in task switching
Barutchu, Ayla, Becker, Stefanie I., Carter, Olivia, Hester, Robert and Levy, Neil L. (2013). The role of task-related learned representations in explaining asymmetries in task switching. PLoS One, 8 (4) e61729, e61729.1-e61729.10. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061729
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"Gaze Leading": initiating simulated joint attention influences eye movements and choice behavior
Bayliss, Andrew P., Murphy, Emily, Naughtin, Claire K., Kritikos, Ada, Schilbach, Leonhard and Becker, Stefanie I. (2013). "Gaze Leading": initiating simulated joint attention influences eye movements and choice behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology-General, 142 (1), 76-92. doi: 10.1037/a0029286
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Priming of fixations during recognition of natural scenes
Valuch, Christian, Becker, Stefanie I. and Ansorge, Ulrich (2013). Priming of fixations during recognition of natural scenes. Journal of Vision, 13 (3) 3, 3.1-3.22. doi: 10.1167/13.3.3
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Horstmann, Gernot, Lipp, Ottmar V. and Becker, Stefanie I. (2012). Of toothy grins and angry snarls-Open mouth displays contribute to efficiency gains in search for emotional. Journal of Vision, 12 (5) 7, 7.1-7.15. doi: 10.1167/12.5.7
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Spatial mislocalization as a consequence of sequential coding of stimuli
Priess, Heinz-Werner, Scharlau, Ingrid, Becker, Stefanie I. and Ansorge, Ulrich (2012). Spatial mislocalization as a consequence of sequential coding of stimuli. Attention Perception and Psychophysics, 74 (2), 365-378. doi: 10.3758/s13414-011-0239-y
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Automatic priming of attentional control by relevant colors
Ansorge, Ulrich and Becker, Stefanie I. (2012). Automatic priming of attentional control by relevant colors. Attention Perception and Psychophysics, 74 (1), 83-104. doi: 10.3758/s13414-011-0231-6
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Eye movements reveal sustained implicit processing of others' mental states
Schneider, Dana, Bayliss, Andrew P., Becker, Stefanie I. and Dux, Paul E. (2012). Eye movements reveal sustained implicit processing of others' mental states. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141 (3), 1-6. doi: 10.1037/a0025458
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Perceptual grouping, not emotion, accounts for search asymmetries with schematic faces
Becker, Stefanie I., Horstmann, Gernot and Remington, Roger W. (2011). Perceptual grouping, not emotion, accounts for search asymmetries with schematic faces. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 37 (6), 1739-1757. doi: 10.1037/a0024665
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Horstmann, Gernot and Becker, Stefanie I. (2011). Evidence for goal-independent attentional capture from validity effects with unexpected novel color cues - A response to Burnham (2007). Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 18 (3), 512-517. doi: 10.3758/s13423-011-0080-2
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Determinants of dwell time in visual search: Similarity or perceptual difficulty?
Becker, Stefanie I. (2011). Determinants of dwell time in visual search: Similarity or perceptual difficulty?. PLoS One, 6 (3) e17740, 1-5. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017740
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Novelty and saliency in attentional capture by unannounced motion singletons
Becker, Stefanie I. and Horstmann, Gernot (2011). Novelty and saliency in attentional capture by unannounced motion singletons. Acta Psychologica, 136 (3), 290-299. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.12.002
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Testing a postselectional account of across-dimension switch costs
Becker, Stefanie I. (2010). Testing a postselectional account of across-dimension switch costs. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 17 (6), 853-861. doi: 10.3758/PBR.17.6.853
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The role of relational information in contingent capture
Becker, SI, Folk, CL and Remington, RW (2010). The role of relational information in contingent capture. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 36 (6), 1460-1476. doi: 10.1037/a0020370
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Oculomotor capture by colour singletons depends on intertrial priming
Becker, Stefanie I. (2010). Oculomotor capture by colour singletons depends on intertrial priming. Vision Research, 50 (21), 2116-2126. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2010.08.001
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A reversal of the search asymmetry favouring negative schematic faces
Horstmann, Gernot, Becker, Stefanie I., Bergmann, Steffi and Burghaus, Ludger (2010). A reversal of the search asymmetry favouring negative schematic faces. Visual Cognition, 18 (7), 981-1016. doi: 10.1080/13506280903435709
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The role of target–distractor relationships in guiding attention and the eyes in visual search
Becker, Stefanie I. (2010). The role of target–distractor relationships in guiding attention and the eyes in visual search. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 139 (2), 247-265. doi: 10.1037/a0018808
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Attentional capture by motion onsets is spatially imprecise
Ansorge, Ulrich, Carbone, Elena, Becker, Stefanie I. and Turatto, Massimo (2010). Attentional capture by motion onsets is spatially imprecise. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 22 (1), 62-105. doi: 10.1080/09541440902733190
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Becker, Stefanie I., Ansorge, Ulrich and Turatto, Massimo (2009). Saccades reveal that allocentric coding of the moving object causes mislocalization in the flash-lag effect. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 71 (6), 1313-1324. doi: 10.3758/APP.71.6.1313
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Can intertrial priming account for the similarity effect in visual search?
Becker, Stefanie I., Ansorge, Ulrich and Horstmann, Gernot (2009). Can intertrial priming account for the similarity effect in visual search?. Vision Research, 49 (14), 1738-1756. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2009.04.001
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A feature-weighting account of priming in conjunction search
Becker, Stefanie I. and Horstmann, Gernot (2009). A feature-weighting account of priming in conjunction search. Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 71 (2), 258-272. doi: 10.3758/APP.71.2.258
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Revisiting the metacontrast dissociation: Comparing sensitivity across different measures and tasks
Ansorge, Ulrich, Becker, Stefanie I. and Breitmeyer, Bruno (2009). Revisiting the metacontrast dissociation: Comparing sensitivity across different measures and tasks. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62 (2), 286-309. doi: 10.1080/17470210801908492
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Can intertrial effects of features and dimensions be explained by a single theory?
Becker, Stefanie I. (2008). Can intertrial effects of features and dimensions be explained by a single theory?. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34 (6), 1417-1440. doi: 10.1037/a0011386
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Attentional effects of negative faces: Top-down contingent or involuntary?
Horstmann, Gernot and Becker, Stefanie I. (2008). Attentional effects of negative faces: Top-down contingent or involuntary?. Perception & Psychophysics, 70 (8), 1416-1434. doi: 10.3758/PP.70.8.1416
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The mechanism of priming: Episodic retrieval or priming of pop-out?
Becker, Stefanie I. (2008). The mechanism of priming: Episodic retrieval or priming of pop-out?. Acta Psychologica, 127 (2), 324-339. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.07.005
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The stage of priming: Are intertrial repetition effects attentional or decisional?
Becker, Stefanie I. (2008). The stage of priming: Are intertrial repetition effects attentional or decisional?. Vision Research, 48 (5), 664-684. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2007.10.025
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Horstmann, Gernot and Becker, Stefanie I. (2008). Effects of stimulus-onset asynchrony and display duration on implicit and explicit measures of attentional capture by a surprising singleton. Visual Cognition, 16 (2-3), 290-306. doi: 10.1080/13506280701461725
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Irrelevant singletons in pop-out search: Attentional capture or filtering costs?
Becker, Stefanie (2007). Irrelevant singletons in pop-out search: Attentional capture or filtering costs?. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 33 (4), 764-787. doi: 10.1037/0096-1523.33.4.764
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Comparing sensitivity across different processing measures under metacontrast masking conditions
Ansorge, U., Breitmeyer, B. G. and Becker, S. I. (2007). Comparing sensitivity across different processing measures under metacontrast masking conditions. Vision Research, 47 (27), 3335-3349. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2007.09.009
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Sensorimotor Supremacy: Investigating Conscious and Unconscious Vision by Masked Priming
Ansorge, Ulrich, Neumann, Odmar, Becker, Stefanie I., Kalberer, Holger and Cruse, Holk (2007). Sensorimotor Supremacy: Investigating Conscious and Unconscious Vision by Masked Priming. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 3 (1-2), 257-274. doi: 10.2478/v10053-008-0029-9
Conference Publication
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Becker, Stefanie I., Martin, Aimee and Finlayson, Nonie J. (2019). At what stage of the visual processing hierarchy is visual search relational and context-dependent vs. feature-specific?. VSS 2019, St. Pete Beach, Florida, 17-22 May 2019. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology . doi: 10.1167/19.10.132b
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Contrasting relational and optimal tuning accounts in attentional and perceptual selection
Hamblin-Frohman, Zachary and Becker, Stefanie (2019). Contrasting relational and optimal tuning accounts in attentional and perceptual selection. Vision Sciences Society Nineteenth Annual Meeting, St Pete Beach, FL, United States, 17-22 May 2019. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/19.10.268a
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Feature relations among colours modulate visual short-term memory
Martin, Aimee and Becker, Stefanie I. (2019). Feature relations among colours modulate visual short-term memory. *, *, *. London, United Kingdom: Sage Publications .
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Attentional capture by contextual cues can cause inverse cueing effects (same location costs)
Schönhammer, Josef, Becker, Stefanie and Kerzel, Dirk (2018). Attentional capture by contextual cues can cause inverse cueing effects (same location costs). Vision Sciences Society Eighteenth Annual Meeting, St Pete Beach, FL, United States, 18-23 May 2018. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/18.10.459
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Saliency capture, contingent capture and onset capture in visual search and spatial cueing
Becker, Stefanie and Judd, Courtney (2018). Saliency capture, contingent capture and onset capture in visual search and spatial cueing. Vision Sciences Society Eighteenth Annual Meeting, St Pete's Beach, FL, United States, 18-23 May 2018. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/18.10.466
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Stimuli are encoded relationally, not independently in visual short-term memory
Martin, Aimee and Becker, Stefanie (2018). Stimuli are encoded relationally, not independently in visual short-term memory. VSS 2018, St. Pete Beach, Florida, 18-23 May 2018. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/18.10.881
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Horstmann, Gernot, Becker, Stefanie and Ernst, Daniel (2017). Is efficiency of difficult visual search determined by dwelling, skipping, and revisiting, rather than by guidance by the target?. Vision Sciences Society Seventeenth Annual Meeting, St Pete's Beach, FL, United States, 19-24 May 2017. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/17.10.1122
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Tuning attention to relative features results in feature-based enhancement and suppression
Schoenhammer, Josef, Becker, Stefanie and Kerzel, Dirk (2017). Tuning attention to relative features results in feature-based enhancement and suppression. Vision Sciences Society Seventeenth Annual Meeting, St Pete Beach, FL, United States, 19-24 May 2017. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/17.10.51
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Which features guide visual attention, and how do they do it?
Becker, Stefanie (2017). Which features guide visual attention, and how do they do it?. Vision Sciences Society Seventeenth Annual Meeting, St Pete's Beach, FL, United States, 19-24 May 2017. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/17.10.6
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Conjunction search is guided by the relative, context-dependent features of the target
Becker, Stefanie and Martin, Aime (2016). Conjunction search is guided by the relative, context-dependent features of the target. VSS 2016, St. Pete Beach, Florida, 13-18 May 2016. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/16.12.190
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Object localisation using visual to tactile and visual to auditory sensory substitution
Venini, Dustin, Ditges, Ernst, Sibbald, Nicholas, Jach, Hayley and Becker, Stefanie (2016). Object localisation using visual to tactile and visual to auditory sensory substitution. Vision Sciences Society Sixteenth Annual Meeting, St Pete Beach, FL, United States, 13-18 May 2016. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/16.12.1198
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Relational or optimal tuning of visual attention
Schenhammer, Josef, Kerzel, Dirk and Becker, Stefanie (2016). Relational or optimal tuning of visual attention. Vision Sciences Society Sixteenth Annual Meeting, St Pete's Beach, FL, United States, 13-18 May 2016. Rockville, MD, United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/16.12.683
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Goal-directed orienting and target-set maintenance in the fronto-parietal attention network
Vromen, Joyce, Becker, Stefanie, Remington, Roger and Mattingley, Jason (2015). Goal-directed orienting and target-set maintenance in the fronto-parietal attention network. 38th European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP) 2015, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 24-27 August, 2015. London, United Kingdom: Sage Publications.
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The influence of context on visual selectivity as indexed by the N2pc
Schoenhammer, Josef G., Grubert, Anna, Kerzel, Dirk and Becker, Stefanie I. (2015). The influence of context on visual selectivity as indexed by the N2pc. *, *, *. London, United Kingdom: Sage Publications .
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The contributions of expectancy and prior exposure to the surprise response in visual search
Retell, James, Becker, Stefanie and Remington, Roger (2013). The contributions of expectancy and prior exposure to the surprise response in visual search. Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting 2013, Naples, FL United States, 10 - 15 May 2013. Rockville, MD United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/13.9.165
Grants (Administered at UQ)
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Can the Relational Account predict search in multiple-element displays?
(2024–2028) ARC Discovery Projects
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Attention vs Perception: When is selection optimal, when relational?
(2021–2025) ARC Discovery Projects
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Testing a relational account for visual working memory
(2017–2020) ARC Discovery Projects
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Do feature relationships play a role for conscious visual perception and awareness
(2015–2016) UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards - DVC(R) Funding
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(2014–2018) ARC Future Fellowships
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Cortical Regulation of Attentional Capture
(2012–2014) ARC Discovery Projects
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The role of relational information in the guidance of visual attention
(2011–2014) ARC Discovery Projects
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An eye-tracking and neuro-stimulation laboratory for cognitive neuroscience research
(2011) UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
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Search for emotional schematic faces: What determines the search asymmetry for angry faces?
(2010) UQ Early Career Researcher
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Are visual attention and eye movements guided by relational information?
(2009–2011) UQ Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
PhD and MPhil Supervision
Current Supervision
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Investigating the importance of VSTM in visual attention vs target identification
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
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Age-Related Influences on Propositional Language: Attention Modulation of Novel Ideas
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
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Do Fearful Faces Attract Spatial Attention under Different Conditions of Visual Awareness?
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Completed Supervision
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(2022) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
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How relational features modulate attention, awareness and visual short-term memory (VSTM)
(2019) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
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(2019) Master Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
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Visual sensory substitution: Initial testing of a custom built visual to tactile device
(2018) Master Philosophy — Principal Advisor
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Top-down influences on the attentional orienting to and disengagement from threat
(2016) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
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(2015) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
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Attentional control: the role of task-expectations in determining attentional selection
(2015) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
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Face to Face: Flexibility in the Processing of Multiple Facial Cues
(2015) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Possible Research Projects
Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.
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Attention and eye movements
There are continuously a range of projects available in my lab to work on visual attention and/or eye movements. The exact topic is negotiated with students. PhD students will learn how to program experiments, analyse the data, present the results to the lab as well as at conferences, and write up the results for publication. The dissertation or PhD thesis usually consists of 3 research articles with 2-3 experiments each, a general introduction and general discussion. Students from my lab are encouraged to present their work at conferences nationally as well as overseas, and to visit other labs to further hone their skills.
