Abstract: Search can be facilitated by presenting one set of distractors before the second set of distractors and the target: the preview effect. The underlying mechanisms allowing the search to be restricted to the new objects were primarily explored in this preview search paradigm. A few theories had been postulated, such as the active inhibition account, the abrupt onset account, and the temporal segregation account. These theories emphasized different aspects of the phenomenon, however, any single mechanism failed to explain all phenomena. This article proposed that the future research should integrate all the existent experimental phenomena and theories, further investigate the roles of old and new objects in preview search, and mainly coordinate the active inhibition account with the abrupt onset account, which might be two sides in a continuum

Key words: preview search, preview effect, active inhibition, attentional capture, temporal segregation