Visual Search: How Do We Find What We Are Looking For?

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 539-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy M. Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Simple Shape ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Parallel Processes ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Street Sign ◽  
Complex Scenes ◽  
Target Templates

In visual search tasks, observers look for targets among distractors. In the lab, this often takes the form of multiple searches for a simple shape that may or may not be present among other items scattered at random on a computer screen (e.g., Find a red T among other letters that are either black or red.). In the real world, observers may search for multiple classes of target in complex scenes that occur only once (e.g., As I emerge from the subway, can I find lunch, my friend, and a street sign in the scene before me?). This article reviews work on how search is guided intelligently. I ask how serial and parallel processes collaborate in visual search, describe the distinction between search templates in working memory and target templates in long-term memory, and consider how searches are terminated.

The role of working memory and long-term memory in visual search

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (4-8) ◽  
pp. 808-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey F. Woodman ◽  
Marvin M. Chun
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory

The Effect of Prior Tennis Experience on Wheelchair Tennis Players’ Visual Search

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-341
Author(s):  
Melissa Hunfalvay ◽  
Nicholas Murray
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Fixation Duration ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Tennis Players ◽  
Fixation Locations ◽  
And Training

The purpose of this study was to examine whether prior biped tennis playing experience results in different visual search strategies compared with no prior biped playing experience. A total of 32 wheelchair (WC) tennis players, 17 males and 15 females, ranked between 1 and 16 on the International Tennis Federation rankings participated in this study. Half the players had prior experience playing tennis as a biped player, and half had no prior experience in biped tennis. The athletes viewed 18 different serves from an expert WC player while their gaze was monitored using eye tracking. Results revealed significant differences between the groups in fixation duration and number of fixations. Differences were also found in fixation locations and durations across biomechanical phases of the serve. The WC only players had more fixations for shorter periods than did WC with biped players in the ritual phase. In the preparatory and execution phases, however, the WC only players had fewer fixations for longer duration than the WC with biped players. Results are discussed in terms of long-term memory structures, learning, and considerations when coaching and training WC tennis players.

Visual Search May Not Require Target Representation in Working Memory or Long-Term Memory

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1547-1555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi Li ◽  
Keyun Xin ◽  
Jiafei Lou ◽  
Zeyu Li
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Iconic Memory ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Memory Representation ◽  
Search Array ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Central Target

We spend a lot of time searching for things. If we know what we are looking for in advance, a memory representation of the target will be created to guide search. But if the identity of the search target is revealed simultaneously with the presentation of the search array, is a similar memory representation formed? In the present study, 96 observers determined whether a central target was present in a peripheral search array. The results revealed that as long as the central target remained available for inspection (even if only in iconic memory), observers reinspected it after each distractor was checked, apparently forgoing consolidation of the target into working memory. The present findings challenged the assumption that evaluating items in a search array must involve comparison with a template in working memory.

scholarly journals The Attentional Template is Shifted and Asymmetrically Sharpened by Distractor Context

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinger Yu ◽  
Joy Geng
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Attentional Selection ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Target Template ◽  
Colored Target

Theories of attention hypothesize the existence of an “attentional template” that contains target features in working or long-term memory. It is often assumed that the template contents are veridical, but recent studies have found that this is not true when the distractor set is linearly separable from the target (e.g., all distractors are “yellower” than an orange colored target). In such cases, the target representation in memory shifts away from distractor features (Navalpakkam & Itti, 2007) and develop a sharper boundary with distractors (Geng, DiQuattro & Helm, 2017). These changes in the target template are presumed to increase the target-to-distractor psychological distinctiveness and lead to better attentional selection, but it remains unclear what characteristics of the distractor context produce shifting vs. sharpening. Here, we test the hypothesis that the template representation shifts whenever the distractor set (i.e., all of the distractors) is linearly separable from the target, but that asymmetrical sharpening only occurs when linearly separable distractors are highly target-similar. Our results were consistent, suggesting that template shifting and asymmetrical sharpening are two mechanisms that increase the representational distinctiveness of targets from expected distractors and improve visual search performance.

scholarly journals Search for the Unknown: Guidance of Visual Search in the Absence of an Active Template

2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762199666
Author(s):  
Oryah C. Lancry-Dayan ◽  
Matthias Gamer ◽  
Yoni Pertzov
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Active State ◽  
Target Face ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Familiar Face ◽  
Active Search ◽  
Search Template

Can you efficiently look for something even without knowing what it looks like? According to theories of visual search, the answer is no: A template of the search target must be maintained in an active state to guide search for potential locations of the target. Here, we tested the need for an active template by assessing a case in which this template is improbable: the search for a familiar face among unfamiliar ones when the identity of the target face is unknown. Because people are familiar with hundreds of faces, an active guiding template seems unlikely in this case. Nevertheless, participants (35 Israelis and 33 Germans) were able to guide their search as long as extrafoveal processing of the target features was possible. These results challenge current theories of visual search by showing that guidance can rely on long-term memory and extrafoveal processing rather than on an active search template.

scholarly journals The road to long-term memory: Top-down attention is more effective than bottom-up attention for forming long-term memories

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edyta Sasin ◽  
Daryl Fougnie
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
The Road ◽  
Memory Traces ◽  
Better Than

AbstractDoes the strength of representations in long-term memory (LTM) depend on which type of attention is engaged? We tested participants’ memory for objects seen during visual search. We compared implicit memory for two types of objects—related-context nontargets that grabbed attention because they matched the target defining feature (i.e., color; top-down attention) and salient distractors that captured attention only because they were perceptually distracting (bottom-up attention). In Experiment 1, the salient distractor flickered, while in Experiment 2, the luminance of the salient distractor was alternated. Critically, salient and related-context nontargets produced equivalent attentional capture, yet related-context nontargets were remembered far better than salient distractors (and salient distractors were not remembered better than unrelated distractors). These results suggest that LTM depends not only on the amount of attention but also on the type of attention. Specifically, top-down attention is more effective in promoting the formation of memory traces than bottom-up attention.

scholarly journals The Control of Single-color and Multiple-color Visual Search by Attentional Templates in Working Memory and in Long-term Memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 1947-1963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Grubert ◽  
Nancy B. Carlisle ◽  
Martin Eimer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Attentional Guidance ◽  
Color Search ◽  
Constant Color

The question whether target selection in visual search can be effectively controlled by simultaneous attentional templates for multiple features is still under dispute. We investigated whether multiple-color attentional guidance is possible when target colors remain constant and can thus be represented in long-term memory but not when they change frequently and have to be held in working memory. Participants searched for one, two, or three possible target colors that were specified by cue displays at the start of each trial. In constant-color blocks, the same colors remained task-relevant throughout. In variable-color blocks, target colors changed between trials. The contralateral delay activity (CDA) to cue displays increased in amplitude as a function of color memory load in variable-color blocks, which indicates that cued target colors were held in working memory. In constant-color blocks, the CDA was much smaller, suggesting that color representations were primarily stored in long-term memory. N2pc components to targets were measured as a marker of attentional target selection. Target N2pcs were attenuated and delayed during multiple-color search, demonstrating less efficient attentional deployment to color-defined target objects relative to single-color search. Importantly, these costs were the same in constant-color and variable-color blocks. These results demonstrate that attentional guidance by multiple-feature as compared with single-feature templates is less efficient both when target features remain constant and can be represented in long-term memory and when they change across trials and therefore have to be maintained in working memory.

scholarly journals Visual search for multiple targets remains efficient when supported by recollective long-term memory

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 811-811
Author(s):  
E. B. Guild ◽  
J. M. Cripps ◽  
N. Al-Aidroos
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Multiple Targets ◽  
Term Memory
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