Relationship between Selection Accuracy and Exposure in Visual Search

Perception ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert T Solman
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Probability Distribution ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Physical Similarity ◽  
Preattentive Processing ◽  
Focal Attention ◽  
Selection Accuracy ◽  
The Times

The physical similarity between the target and the irrelevant items, and the number of irrelevant items, were varied to obtain curves relating accuracy of target location to exposure, and reaction time to exposure. Two groups of subjects searched circular displays where similarity differed for each group, and number and exposure varied within groups. The results indicated that the relationships between accuracy and exposure were the more informative since they directly reflected processing, particularly when the exposure was very brief. These time versus accuracy curves were negatively accelerated, showing rapid increases in accuracy for approximately 50 ms with very slow (if any) increases for longer exposures. As it was not possible to account for these accuracy variations in terms of simple serial or parallel models of information processing, they were seen as reflecting processing by preattention and focal attention. Further analysis suggested that the times required for preattentive processing were brief and have a probability distribution.

scholarly journals Neural Control of Visual Search by Frontal Eye Field: Effects of Unexpected Target Displacement on Visual Selection and Saccade Preparation

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 2485-2506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditya Murthy ◽  
Supriya Ray ◽  
Stephanie M. Shorter ◽  
Jeffrey D. Schall ◽  
Kirk G. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Receptive Field ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Visual Selection ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Visual Neurons ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Saccade Preparation

The dynamics of visual selection and saccade preparation by the frontal eye field was investigated in macaque monkeys performing a search-step task combining the classic double-step saccade task with visual search. Reward was earned for producing a saccade to a color singleton. On random trials the target and one distractor swapped locations before the saccade and monkeys were rewarded for shifting gaze to the new singleton location. A race model accounts for the probabilities and latencies of saccades to the initial and final singleton locations and provides a measure of the duration of a covert compensation process—target-step reaction time. When the target stepped out of a movement field, noncompensated saccades to the original location were produced when movement-related activity grew rapidly to a threshold. Compensated saccades to the final location were produced when the growth of the original movement-related activity was interrupted within target-step reaction time and was replaced by activation of other neurons producing the compensated saccade. When the target stepped into a receptive field, visual neurons selected the new target location regardless of the monkeys’ response. When the target stepped out of a receptive field most visual neurons maintained the representation of the original target location, but a minority of visual neurons showed reduced activity. Chronometric analyses of the neural responses to the target step revealed that the modulation of visually responsive neurons and movement-related neurons occurred early enough to shift attention and saccade preparation from the old to the new target location. These findings indicate that visual activity in the frontal eye field signals the location of targets for orienting, whereas movement-related activity instantiates saccade preparation.

Influence of Selection Difficulty on the Time Required for Icon Formation

Perception ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-231
Author(s):  
Robert T Solman
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cumulative Probability ◽  
Physical Similarity ◽  
Time Required

By increasing the number of display items and the physical similarity between the target and the irrelevant items it was possible to vary the difficulty of target selection in a visual-search task. The results showed that the accuracy with which the target was located declined as target selection became more difficult. On the other hand, estimates of the cumulative probability and the probability distributions of times necessary to form the icon indicated that these times were not influenced by changes in the difficulty of the task. The latter result supports Neisser's suggestion that the information processing carried out during the first stage of analysis can be attributed to the action of a distinct cognitive mechanism.

Irrelevant Singletons in Visual Search Do Not Capture Attention but Can Produce Nonspatial Filtering Costs

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 645-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Wykowska ◽  
Anna Schubö
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Gain Control ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Preattentive Processing ◽  
Singleton Distractor ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Singleton Condition

It is not clear how salient distractors affect visual processing. The debate concerning the issue of whether irrelevant salient items capture spatial attention [e.g., Theeuwes, J., Atchley, P., & Kramer, A. F. On the time course of top–down and bottom–up control of visual attention. In S. Monsell & J. Driver (Eds.), Attention and performance XVIII: Control of cognitive performance (pp. 105–124). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000] or produce only nonspatial interference in the form of, for example, filtering costs [Folk, Ch. L., & Remington, R. Top–down modulation of preattentive processing: Testing the recovery account of contingent capture. Visual Cognition, 14, 445–465, 2006] has not yet been settled. The present ERP study examined deployment of attention in visual search displays that contained an additional irrelevant singleton. Display-locked N2pc showed that attention was allocated to the target and not to the irrelevant singleton. However, the onset of the N2pc to the target was delayed when the irrelevant singleton was presented in the opposite hemifield relative to the same hemifield. Thus, although attention was successfully focused on the target, the irrelevant singleton produced some interference resulting in a delayed allocation of attention to the target. A subsequent probe discrimination task allowed for locking ERPs to probe onsets and investigating the dynamics of sensory gain control for probes appearing at relevant (target) or irrelevant (singleton distractor) positions. Probe-locked P1 showed sensory gain for probes positioned at the target location but no such effect for irrelevant singletons in the additional singleton condition. Taken together, the present data support the claim that irrelevant singletons do not capture attention. If they produce any interference, it is rather due to nonspatial filtering costs.

The Use of Choice-Reaction-Time Models in the Analysis of Detection Tasks

1977 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-126
Author(s):  
Robert R. Richards ◽  
Thomas L. Sadosky ◽  
Rodney K. Schutz
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Information Content ◽  
Choice Reaction Time ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Search Time ◽  
Target Size ◽  
Detection Time ◽  
Linear Relationships ◽  
Average Information Content

The information processing models used in the analysis of choice-reaction-time tasks are limited in their applicability to real detection tasks because the models are task dependent. The linear relationships between time and information processed in one task have not been extended to detection tasks in general. This paper examines a model for making the information processing models more general. Parameters relating to detection tasks are divided into two categories; those that influence the intercept (basic detection time) and those that influence the slope (information processing rate). Variables chosen for investigation were target size, target location certainty, distracting visual images, and average information content in the stimulus. Results indicated that target size, location certainty, and distracting images definitely affect “basic detection time.” It was also indicated that information-processing time, established by information content, was not greatly affected by those variables. An exception occurs with high levels of distracting images (clutter) which adds significant search time to a task.

Information Processing in a Binary Classification Task

1979 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 851-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cephas J. Adkins ◽  
Ben B. Morgan ◽  
Earl A. Alluisi
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Choice Reaction Time ◽  
Display Size ◽  
Binary Classification ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
The Third ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Within Subjects

Three choice-reaction time studies were conducted to investigate whether information processing is exhaustive or self-terminating, serial or parallel, and N-dependent or N-independent. A total of 54 subjects were requited to make key-pressing responses to one, two, or three digits presented in a circular display; one key was pressed if the display contained one or more target digits and another key was pressed if the display contained only nontarget digits. The first two studies utilized within-subjects designs in which the displays were consttucted from only one target and one nontarget item (Study 1) or from three target and seven nontarget items (Study 2). The third study used a between-subjects design in which different groups of subjects responded to one-, two-, or three-element displays. In general, the results indicate that CRTs increased as the total number of display elements increased and decreased as the number of target elements (or the ratio of target to nontarget items) increased for a given display size. When only target elements were presented, CRT was independent of the number of elements displayed, and when only one target was presented, CRT increased as total number of elements increased. These combined results are interpreted as support for the inference that information processing in visual search tasks tends to be self-terminating, serial, and N-dependent (of limited capacity).

scholarly journals Visual search behavior and performance in luggage screening: effects of time pressure, automation aid, and target expectancy

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Rieger ◽  
Lydia Heilmann ◽  
Dietrich Manzey
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Search Behavior ◽  
High Time ◽  
Luggage Screening ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Automated Support

AbstractVisual inspection of luggage using X-ray technology at airports is a time-sensitive task that is often supported by automated systems to increase performance and reduce workload. The present study evaluated how time pressure and automation support influence visual search behavior and performance in a simulated luggage screening task. Moreover, we also investigated how target expectancy (i.e., targets appearing in a target-often location or not) influenced performance and visual search behavior. We used a paradigm where participants used the mouse to uncover a portion of the screen which allowed us to track how much of the stimulus participants uncovered prior to their decision. Participants were randomly assigned to either a high (5-s time per trial) or a low (10-s time per trial) time-pressure condition. In half of the trials, participants were supported by an automated diagnostic aid (85% reliability) in deciding whether a threat item was present. Moreover, within each half, in target-present trials, targets appeared in a predictable location (i.e., 70% of targets appeared in the same quadrant of the image) to investigate effects of target expectancy. The results revealed better detection performance with low time pressure and faster response times with high time pressure. There was an overall negative effect of automation support because the automation was only moderately reliable. Participants also uncovered a smaller amount of the stimulus under high time pressure in target-absent trials. Target expectancy of target location improved accuracy, speed, and the amount of uncovered space needed for the search.Significance Statement Luggage screening is a safety–critical real-world visual search task which often has to be done under time pressure. The present research found that time pressure compromises performance and increases the risk to miss critical items even with automation support. Moreover, even highly reliable automated support may not improve performance if it does not exceed the manual capabilities of the human screener. Lastly, the present research also showed that heuristic search strategies (e.g., areas where targets appear more often) seem to guide attention also in luggage screening.

Cognitive Information Processing Measures as Predictors of Monitoring Performance

1982 ◽  
Vol 54 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1299-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Cellar ◽  
Gerald V. Barrett ◽  
Ralph Alexander ◽  
Dennis Doverspike ◽  
Jay C. Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Female College Students ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Cognitive Information Processing ◽  
Precise Understanding ◽  
Cognitive Information ◽  
Complex Monitoring

To obtain a more precise understanding of the constructs underlying complex monitoring, measures of short-term memory and visual search were administered to 7 male and 13 female college students. The hypothesis was that more rapid short-term memory and visual search would be related to successful monitoring. A correlational analysis indicated that choice reaction time was related to performance ( r = –.38 and –.43) while rate of serial comparisons was not ( r = –.08 and –.28). It was concluded that information-processing measures enhanced the understanding of the underlying processes in monitoring beyond that provided by traditional cognitive tests.

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