Factors affecting processing mode in visual search

Abstract

Visual search was studied under a variety of conditions to clarify some differences among the results of previous investigations and to provide a testing ground for models of visual information processing. Display configuration, target and field composition, exposure duration, and display size (up to 16 elements) were among the parameters investigated. In some conditions, mean reaction time was essentially invariant with display size, while in other conditions it increased substantially and linearly with display size. Current models of visual information processing were evaluated in the light of these and previous findings; all were found wanting. The data seem to demand a system subject to flexible cognitive control processes.

The category effect in visual detection and partial report

“…However, Egethet al (1972) reported that, after practice, the time to find a digit in an array of letters was unaffected by the number of letters. Although a small effect of the number of distractors has been found in other studies, there is little doubt that the search for a digit is faster among letters than it is among other digits (e.g., Brand, 1971;Egeth, Atkinson, Gilmore, & Marcus, 1973;Gleitman & Jonides, 1978;Taylor, 1978). Moreover, the effect has been found even when target and distractors This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grant A8263.…”

Bottom-up and top-down attentional contributions to the size congruity effect

“…For example, B2^and B9^have distinct shapes, but also represent distinct numerical quantities. Many visual searches that were initially adduced as evidence that alphanumeric characters' semantic associations can drive visual search (e.g., Egeth, Atkinson, Gilmore, & Marcus, 1973;Jonides & Gleitman, 1972) could be explained more parsimoniously in terms of shape differences (Duncan, 1983;Krueger, 1984). Indeed, Wolfe and Horowitz (2004) expressed doubt that alphanumeric characters' semantic associations could be shown to guide search, because manipulating a character's semantic association typically entails also manipulating its shape.…”

Consistent attending versus consistent responding in visual search: Task versus component consistency in automatic processing development

“…For example, in a visual search paradigm, Schneider and Shiffrin (1977, Experiment 2) found that reaction times in conditions in which subjects could consistently attend and respond to stimuli were 580 msec; when attending was not consistent , reaction times were 1,290 msec. Previous research has shown that, in general, when subjects consistently attend and respond to stimuli, their performance becomes less dependent on processing load , requires less effort, is more accurate, and is faster (e.g., Corballis, 1975;Egeth, Atkinson , Gilmore, & Marcus, 1973;Kristofferson, 1972;Logan, 1978Logan, , 1979Neisser, 1974;Rabbitt, 1978;Schneider & Fisk, 1982a, 1982bSchneider & Shiffrin, 1977;Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977 ; for a review, see Schneider, Dumais, & Shiffrin, 1984).…”