Preattentive guidance of eye movements during triple conjunction search tasks: The effects of feature discriminability and saccadic amplitude

Eye movements were monitored during the performance of triple conjunction search tasks. Stimuli varied in color, shape, and orientation. Across trials, the target was either present or absent, and displays consisted of 6, 12, or 24 stimuli. Stimulus discriminability was manipulated for the shape dimension, with half of the participants seeing displays of Es and Fs (low-discriminability [LD] condition) and half seeing displays of Cs and Ts (high-discriminability [HD] condition). Participants in both conditions performed two search tasks. In the single-feature (SF) task, the target stimulus shared one feature with each of the distractors, whereas in the two-feature (TF) task, it shared two features with each distractor. An examination of saccadic endpoints revealed that participants were more likely to fixate on distractor stimuli sharing color (SF task) or color and shape (TF task) with the target. This was a robust finding, being observed across participants, saccades of different amplitudes and sequential position, and following short and long latencies to move. The extent to which participants made use of shape information increased with discriminability.

[1]  C. Scialfa,et al.  Response times and eye movements in feature and conjunction search as a function of target eccentricity , 1998, Perception & psychophysics.

[2]  Hooge.  PII: S0042-6989(98)00213-2 , 1998 .

[3]  J. Duncan,et al.  Beyond the search surface: visual search and attentional engagement. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[4]  H. J. Muller,et al.  SEarch via Recursive Rejection (SERR): A Connectionist Model of Visual Search , 1993, Cognitive Psychology.

[5]  J. Wolfe,et al.  The role of categorization in visual search for orientation. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[6]  S. M. Luria,et al.  Eye movements during search for coded and uncoded targets , 1975 .

[7]  C. Bundesen.  A theory of visual attention. , 1990, Psychological review.

[8]  J. Palmer.  Set-size effects in visual search: The effect of attention is independent of the stimulus for simple tasks , 1994, Vision Research.

[9]  A. Nagy,et al.  Critical color differences determined with a visual search task. , 1990, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[10]  B. C. Motter,et al.  The guidance of eye movements during active visual search , 1998, Vision Research.

[11]  M. Behrmann,et al.  Patterns of eye movements during parallel and serial visual search tasks. , 1997, Canadian journal of experimental psychology = Revue canadienne de psychologie experimentale.

[12]  M. J. Farah,et al.  Late experience alters vision , 1995, Nature.

[13]  Anne Treisman,et al.  Representing visual objects , 1993 .

[14]  Nick Donnelly,et al.  SEarch via recursive rejection (SERR): visual search for single and dual form-conjunction targets , 1994 .

[15]  A. Treisman,et al.  Conjunction search revisited. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[16]  P Jolicoeur,et al.  Impact of Quality of the Image, Orientation, and Similarity of the Stimuli on Visual Search for Faces , 1994, Perception.

[17]  J. Hoffman,et al.  The role of visual attention in saccadic eye movements , 1995, Perception & psychophysics.

[18]  Jan Theeuwes,et al.  SEARCH FOR A CONJUNCTIVELY DEFINED TARGET CAN BE SELECTIVELY LIMITED TO A COLOR-DEFINED SUBSET OF ELEMENTS , 1995 .

[19]  Eyal M. Reingold,et al.  Saccadic Selectivity During Visual Search , 2003 .

[20]  S. Hochstein,et al.  How Serial is Serial Processing in Vision? , 1989, Perception.

[21]  J. Findlay.  Saccade Target Selection During Visual Search , 1997, Vision Research.

[22]  Jon Driver,et al.  Visual search for a conjunction of movement and form is parallel , 1988, Nature.

[23]  Arthur M. Jacobs.  TOWARD A MODEL OF EYE MOVEMENT CONTROL IN VISUAL SEARCH , 1987 .

[24]  Susan L. Franzel,et al.  Guided search: an alternative to the feature integration model for visual search. , 1989, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[25]  J. D. Gould,et al.  Eye-movement parameters in pattern recognition. , 1967, Journal of experimental psychology.

[26]  J. Findlay.  The Visual Stimulus for Saccadic Eye Movements in Human Observers , 1980, Perception.

[27]  J. Findlay,et al.  Eye guidance and visual search , 1998 .

[28]  G. Humphreys,et al.  Search via recursive rejection (SERR): visual search for single and dual form-conjunction targets. , 1994, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[29]  David L. Sheinberg,et al.  Eye movements during parallel-serial visual search. , 1997, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[30]  A. Treisman.  Visual Attention and the Perception of Features and Objects , 1994 .

[31]  Wolfgang Prinz,et al.  Costs and benefits of redundancy in visual search , 1984 .

[32]  G. Zelinsky.  Using Eye Saccades to Assess the Selectivity of Search Movements , 1996, Vision Research.

[33]  David L. Sheinberg,et al.  Why Some Search Tasks Take Longer Than Others: Using Eye Movements to Redefine Reaction Times , 1995 .

[34]  K. Rayner.  Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research. , 1998, Psychological bulletin.

[35]  J. D. Gould.  Pattern recognition and eye-movement parameters , 1967 .

[36]  S B Steinman,et al.  Serial and Parallel Search in Pattern Vision? , 1987, Perception.

[37]  S. Smith,et al.  Color coding and visual search. , 1962, Journal of experimental psychology.

[38]  G W Humphreys,et al.  Visual search for targets defined by combinations of color, shape, and size: An examination of the task constraints on feature and conjunction searches , 1987, Perception & psychophysics.

[39]  F. Wilkinson,et al.  Distractor Ratio and Grouping Processes in Visual Conjunction Search , 1992, Perception.

[40]  Glyn W. Humphreys,et al.  A connectionist model of visual search for simple form conjunctions , 1993 .

[41]  Jeremy M. Wolfe,et al.  8. Extending guided search: why guided search needs a preattentive "item map" , 1996 .

[42]  J. Wolfe,et al.  Guided Search 2.0 A revised model of visual search , 1994, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[43]  J. Theeuwes,et al.  Parallel search for a conjunction of contrast polarity and shape , 1994, Vision Research.

[44]  J. Duncan,et al.  Visual search and stimulus similarity. , 1989, Psychological review.

[45]  K. Rayner.  Eye movements in reading and information processing. , 1978, Psychological bulletin.

[46]  M. Pomplun,et al.  Distractor Ratio Influences Patterns of Eye Movements during Visual Search , 2000, Perception.

[47]  Timothy L. Hodgson,et al.  Evidence Relating to Premotor Theories of Visuospattal Attention , 1995 .

[48]  P Cavanagh,et al.  Familiarity and pop-out in visual search , 1994, Perception & psychophysics.

[49]  L G Williams,et al.  The effects of target specification on objects fixated during visual search. , 1967, Acta psychologica.

[50]  Donald L. Fisher,et al.  EYE MOVEMENTS AND THE PERCEPTUAL SPAN DURING VISUAL SEARCH , 1987 .

[51]  J. Findlay,et al.  The Relationship between Eye Movements and Spatial Attention , 1986, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[52]  U. Neisser.  VISUAL SEARCH. , 1964, Scientific American.

[53]  A. Treisman.  Search, similarity, and integration of features between and within dimensions. , 1991, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[54]  A Treisman,et al.  Feature analysis in early vision: evidence from search asymmetries. , 1988, Psychological review.

[55]  K. Rayner.  Eye movements and visual cognition : scene perception and reading , 1992 .

[56]  J. Palmer.  Attention in Visual Search: Distinguishing Four Causes of a Set-Size Effect , 1995 .

[57]  A. Treisman.  Features and Objects: The Fourteenth Bartlett Memorial Lecture , 1988, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[58]  J. Henderson.  Visual Attention and Eye Movement Control During Reading and Picture Viewing , 1992 .

[59]  G. Underwood.  Eye guidance in reading and scene perception , 1998 .

[60]  Ken Nakayama,et al.  Serial and parallel processing of visual feature conjunctions , 1986, Nature.

[61]  H. Deubel,et al.  Visual attention and saccadic eye movements: Evidence for obligatory and selective spatial coupling , 1995 .

[62]  Dave M. Stampe,et al.  Heuristic filtering and reliable calibration methods for video-based pupil-tracking systems , 1993 .

[63]  Robert W. Kentridge,et al.  Eye movement research : mechanisms, processes and applications , 1995 .

[64]  H. Egeth,et al.  Searching for conjunctively defined targets. , 1984, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[65]  Jeremy M Wolfe,et al.  Modeling the role of parallel processing in visual search , 1990, Cognitive Psychology.

[66]  B. Dosher,et al.  The role of attention in the programming of saccades , 1995, Vision Research.

[67]  A. Treisman,et al.  A feature-integration theory of attention , 1980, Cognitive Psychology.