scholarly journals The psychophysics of visual search with heterogeneous distractors: effects ofset size, task, temporal order and stimulus spacing

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 131c
Author(s):  
Andra L Mihali ◽  
Wei Ji Ma
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Stimulus Spacing ◽  
Size Task

Visual Search Processes in Healthy Aging

Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 4-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Tales ◽  
T Troscianko ◽  
S R Butler
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Size Task

It is well established that there are two limiting types of visual search, a pre-attentive parallel and an attention-related serial process. Such different types of processing may depend upon different regions of the visual cortex and such a measurable dissociation of function could provide a useful marker for particular types of cortical pathology, such as that associated with Parkinson's disease, aging, and Alzheimer's disease. For example, recent studies in this laboratory have shown that people with Parkinson's disease have abnormal parallel but normal serial search functions. Plude and Doussard-Roosevelt (1989 Psychology and Aging4 98 – 105) found no difference in parallel processing between older and young adults, but found that older adults performed worse on a conjunction task. The aim of the present experiment was to extend this research and look at the effect of aging on other types of visual search task and to compare these findings to patients with Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease to determine if different patterns of visual function occur. Twenty-five young adults (mean age 32.6 years) and twenty-five older adults (mean age 63.4 years) performed both a conjunction task and a task involving the detection of a target only slightly larger than the distractors (the ‘size’ task). Our hypothesis was that for both types of visual search there would be an increase in search slope in the older adult group compared to the younger adults. Results of a 2-factor (1 between and 1 within) ANOVA performed on the slope values indicate statistically significant main effects of both age ( F=7.661, p<0.008) and search task ( F=25.426, p<0.0001), where in both the conjunction and size task the slope value was significantly greater for the older than for the younger adults. The slope for the size task was significantly greater than that for the conjunction task for both age groups. The results therefore support our hypothesis and further work is in progress to determine the effects of Alzheimer's disease on different types of visual search processing.

scholarly journals The psychophysics of visual search with heterogeneous distractors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andra Mihali ◽  
Wei Ji Ma
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Bayesian Modeling ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Separate Experiment ◽  
Perceptual Task ◽  
Summary Statistics ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Stimulus Spacing ◽  
Observer Model

AbstractVisual search is one of the most ecologically important perceptual task domains. One research tradition has studied visual search using simple, parametric stimuli and a signal detection theory or Bayesian modeling framework. However, this tradition has mostly focused on homogeneous distractors (identical to each other), which are not very realistic. In a different tradition, Duncan and Humphreys (1989) conducted a landmark study on visual search with heterogeneous distractors. However, they used complex stimuli, making modeling and dissociation of component processes difficult. Here, we attempt to unify these research traditions by systematically examining visual search with heterogeneous distractors using simple, parametric stimuli and Bayesian modeling. Our experiment varied multiple factors that could influence performance: set size, task (N-AFC localization vs detection), whether the target was revealed before or after the search array (perception versus memory), and stimulus spacing. We found that performance robustly decreased with increasing set size. When examining within-trial summary statistics, we found that the minimum target-to-distractor feature difference was a stronger predictor of behavior than the mean target-to-distractor difference and than distractor variance. To obtain process-level understanding, we formulated a Bayesian optimal-observer model. This model accounted for all summary statistics, including when fitted jointly to localization and detection. We replicated these results in a separate experiment with reduced stimulus spacing. Together, our results represent a critique of Duncan and Humphrey’s descriptive approach, bring visual search with heterogeneous distractors firmly within the reach of quantitative process models, and affirm the “unreasonable effectiveness” of Bayesian models in explaining visual search.

The Influences of Goal and Laterality of a Prepared Hand Response on a Co-Occurring Visual Search

2015 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Coutté ◽  
Gérard Olivier ◽  
Sylvane Faure
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Visual Target ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Response Preparation ◽  
Manual Response ◽  
Response Hand ◽  
Computer Screen ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Manual Interaction

Computer use generally requires manual interaction with human-computer interfaces. In this experiment, we studied the influence of manual response preparation on co-occurring shifts of attention to information on a computer screen. The participants were to carry out a visual search task on a computer screen while simultaneously preparing to reach for either a proximal or distal switch on a horizontal device, with either their right or left hand. The response properties were not predictive of the target’s spatial position. The results mainly showed that the preparation of a manual response influenced visual search: (1) The visual target whose location was congruent with the goal of the prepared response was found faster; (2) the visual target whose location was congruent with the laterality of the response hand was found faster; (3) these effects have a cumulative influence on visual search performance; (4) the magnitude of the influence of the response goal on visual search is marginally negatively correlated with the rapidity of response execution. These results are discussed in the general framework of structural coupling between perception and motor planning.

Scientific Problem Solving in a Virtual Laboratory: A Comparison Between Individuals and Pairs

2008 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda A. Métrailler ◽  
Ester Reijnen ◽  
Cornelia Kneser ◽  
Klaus Opwis
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Process Data ◽  
Scientific Problem ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Scientific Problem Solving ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Verbal Data ◽  
Psychological Knowledge ◽  
Problem Solving Task

This study compared individuals with pairs in a scientific problem-solving task. Participants interacted with a virtual psychological laboratory called Virtue to reason about a visual search theory. To this end, they created hypotheses, designed experiments, and analyzed and interpreted the results of their experiments in order to discover which of five possible factors affected the visual search process. Before and after their interaction with Virtue, participants took a test measuring theoretical and methodological knowledge. In addition, process data reflecting participants’ experimental activities and verbal data were collected. The results showed a significant but equal increase in knowledge for both groups. We found differences between individuals and pairs in the evaluation of hypotheses in the process data, and in descriptive and explanatory statements in the verbal data. Interacting with Virtue helped all students improve their domain-specific and domain-general psychological knowledge.

Visual Search Facilitation in Repeated Displays Depends on Visuospatial Working Memory

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela A. Manginelli ◽  
Franziska Geringswald ◽  
Stefan Pollmann
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Control Experiment ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Contextual Cueing ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Memory Resources

When distractor configurations are repeated over time, visual search becomes more efficient, even if participants are unaware of the repetition. This contextual cueing is a form of incidental, implicit learning. One might therefore expect that contextual cueing does not (or only minimally) rely on working memory resources. This, however, is debated in the literature. We investigated contextual cueing under either a visuospatial or a nonspatial (color) visual working memory load. We found that contextual cueing was disrupted by the concurrent visuospatial, but not by the color working memory load. A control experiment ruled out that unspecific attentional factors of the dual-task situation disrupted contextual cueing. Visuospatial working memory may be needed to match current display items with long-term memory traces of previously learned displays.

Exploring the Boundaries of the Number–Temporal Order Association

2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Ganor-Stern
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Numerical Comparison ◽  
Negative Number ◽  
Comparison Task ◽  
Negative Numbers ◽  
The Past

Past research has shown that numbers are associated with order in time such that performance in a numerical comparison task is enhanced when number pairs appear in ascending order, when the larger number follows the smaller one. This was found in the past for the integers 1–9 ( Ben-Meir, Ganor-Stern, & Tzelgov, 2013 ; Müller & Schwarz, 2008 ). In the present study we explored whether the advantage for processing numbers in ascending order exists also for fractions and negative numbers. The results demonstrate this advantage for fraction pairs and for integer-fraction pairs. However, the opposite advantage for descending order was found for negative numbers and for positive-negative number pairs. These findings are interpreted in the context of embodied cognition approaches and current theories on the mental representation of fractions and negative numbers.

Age-related effects in the marking of old objects in visual search.

2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 286-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur F. Kramer ◽  
Paul Atchley
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Age Related
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