Reducing Uncertainty in Visual Search through the Priming of Visual-Relatedness and the Manipulation of Observer Expectancy

Abstract

We examined two means of reducing uncertainty in visual search: 1) visual-relatedness of a prime to a target and 2) expectancy (based on the proportion of validly primed trials). The two processes were decoupled using a short and a long inter-stimulus interval to examine their respective time courses in visual search. Twelve participants engaged in a discrimination task and a visual search task. The obtained results suggest that visual-relatedness affects search performance early, but its effects rapidly decay. They also suggest that expectancy requires time to accrue before it can affect visual search performance, but its effects are more long lasting than visual-relatedness. These results offer guidance for designing visual displays. In tasks that require split-second decisions designers should be encouraged to prime visualrelatedness. Moreover if the onset of the display and the required decision are separated by a longer interval, displays should inform users of likely outcomes (i.e. manipulate user's expectations).

The effects of private and collective self‐priming on visual search: Taking advantage of organized contextual stimuli

“…Oftentimes, it is possible to affect visual search performance via priming participants (Kunar & Humphreys, 2006; Lamy, Carmel, Egeth, & Leber; 2006; Linnell & Humphreys, 2007). Some primes that have been used in the past include visual‐relatedness (Hailston & Davis, 2006), shape‐priming (Laarni & Nyman, 1997), verbal primes (Soto & Humphreys, 2007), and many others (Chiao, Heck, Makayama, & Ambady, 2006; Lavie & Fox, 2000; Soto & Humphreys, 2006). Typically, these primes involve some aspect of the visual system itself, and are directly related to the visual cognitive process such as ‘imagining’ what the target or prime looks like or having the description of the target or prime read out loud (Soto & Humphreys, 2007).…”