Background distraction during vertical solid and character line bisections

ABSTRACTBackground–objectives: When vertical lines are positioned above or below the center of the page, line bisection deviates toward the center of the page, suggesting that the edges of the page distract the allocation of attention to the line. A letter-character line (LCL) bisection requires both global and focal attention, to identify the target letter closest to the line’s center. If more focal and less global attention is allocated to a LCL, more global attentional resources may be available and inadvertently allocated to the page. Alternatively, if the allocation of focal attention to a LCL inhibits global attentional processing, there may be less distraction by the page.Method: Twenty-four healthy adults (12 older) bisected vertical solid and character lines centered, or positioned closer to the top or bottom of the page.Results: There was no difference between bisection of solid and character lines centered on the page. Page-related deviations were greater with character lines than solid line bi...