EXPRESS: Framing the area: An efficient approach for avoiding visual interference and optimizing visual search in adolescents

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110650
Author(s):  
Sabrina Bouhassoun ◽  
Christian Gerlach ◽  
Grégoire Borst ◽  
Nicolas Poirel
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Visual Interference ◽  
Visual Searches ◽  
Educational Field

Attentional resources are limited, and resistance to interference plays a critical role during cognitive tasks and learning. Previous studies have shown that participants find it difficult to avoid being distracted by global visual information when processing local details. In this study, we investigated an innovative approach for enhancing the processing of local visual details by middle-school adolescents. Two groups completed a classic global/local visual search task in which a predefined target could appear at the global or local level, either with or without a frame. The results from the no-frame display group provided a direct replication in adolescents of previous findings in adults, with increasing number of interferent stimuli presented in the display adversely affecting detection of local targets. Additionally, by varying the numbers of distractors inside and outside the frame, we showed that distractors only interfered with the processing of local information inside the frame, while the deleterious impact of increases in distracting information was prevented when the distractors were outside the frame. These findings suggest that when a frame delimits an attentional area, the influence of an increasing number of distractors present outside the frame is eliminated. We assume that application of a frame allows for efficient delimitation of attention deployment to a restricted topographical visual area in adolescents. These results evidence that processing of local details can be improved without modifying the structure of the stimuli, and provide promising clues for optimizing attentional resources during time-absorbing visual searches. Applicable implications in the educational field are discussed.

scholarly journals The Effect of Information Organization on Cognitive Workload and Visual Search Performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 302-306
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C. Joe ◽  
Casey R. Kovesdi ◽  
Andrea Mack ◽  
Tina Miyake
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Information Organization ◽  
Cognitive Workload ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Accuracy Tradeoff

This study examined the relationship between how visual information is organized and people’s visual search performance. Specifically, we systematically varied how visual search information was organized (from well-organized to disorganized), and then asked participants to perform a visual search task involving finding and identifying a number of visual targets within the field of visual non-targets. We hypothesized that the visual search task would be easier when the information was well-organized versus when it was disorganized. We further speculated that visual search performance would be mediated by cognitive workload, and that the results could be generally described by the well-established speed-accuracy tradeoff phenomenon. This paper presents the details of the study we designed and our results.

scholarly journals The forest, the trees, and the leaves across adulthood: Age-related changes on a visual search task containing three-level hierarchical stimuli

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Bouhassoun ◽  
Nicolas Poirel ◽  
Noah Hamlin ◽  
Gaelle E. Doucet
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Local Processing ◽  
Global Precedence ◽  
Hierarchical Stimuli

AbstractSelecting relevant visual information in complex scenes by processing either global information or local parts helps us act efficiently within our environment and achieve goals. A global advantage (faster global than local processing) and global interference (global processing interferes with local processing) comprise an evidentiary global precedence phenomenon in early adulthood. However, the impact of healthy aging on this phenomenon remains unclear. As such, we collected behavioral data during a visual search task, including three-levels hierarchical stimuli (i.e., global, intermediate, and local levels) with several hierarchical distractors, in 50 healthy adults (26 younger (mean age: 26 years) and 24 older (mean age: 62 years)). Results revealed that processing information presented at the global and intermediate levels was independent of age. Conversely, older adults were slower for local processing compared to the younger adults, suggesting lower efficiency to deal with visual distractors during detail-oriented visual search. Although healthy older adults continued exhibiting a global precedence phenomenon, they were disproportionately less efficient during local aspects of information processing, especially when multiple visual information was displayed. Our results could have important implications for many life situations by suggesting that visual information processing is impacted by healthy aging, even with similar visual stimuli objectively presented.

scholarly journals Examining the Effects of Clutter and Target Salience in an E-Commerce Visual Search Task

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1761-1765
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Visual Salience ◽  
Web Page ◽  
Attentional Guidance ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Trial Participants

For web page designers it is important to consider how the visual components of a page affect how easy it is to use. Visual salience and clutter are two bottom-up factors of stimuli that have been shown to affect attentional guidance. Visual salience is a measure of how much a given item or region in the visual field stands out relative to its surroundings, and clutter is a measure of how much visual information is present and how well it is organized. In this study, we examined the effects of visual salience and clutter in a visual search task in e-commerce pages. Clutter was manipulated by adding grids of varying densities to the background of stimuli. On each trial, participants searched for an item that was either the most or least salient of the items on the page as determined by a computational model of visual salience (Itti, Koch, & Niebur, 1998). The results showed that the high salient targets were found faster than the low salient targets and search times also increased as clutter increased, but these two factors did not interact. We conclude that designers should consider both factors when possible.

Access to Global and Local Properties in Visual Search for Compound Stimuli

1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 283-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
James T. Enns ◽  
Alan Kingstone
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Target Feature ◽  
Compound Stimuli ◽  
Element Size ◽  
Local Properties ◽  
Global And Local

The question of whether attention is drawn more easily to global or local aspects of a stimulus has been debated for more than 100 years We examined it anew, using the visual search task, which distinguishes sensory from attentional effects Subjects searched for a target feature (e g, triangle vs square), which was equally likely to occur in the local elements of a compound search item, in its global structure, or in both Element size and spacing were used to manipulate whether search was generally easier for local or global targets (e g, small size and dense spacing favor global detection) The novel result was that these factors had very little influence on search slopes for local targets, whereas they had large effects on search slopes for global targets This result suggests that a qualitatively different process underlies detection at the global level in traditional compound stimuli Our proposal that an attention-demanding grouping stage is involved was confirmed in a final experiment in which grouping was made selectively difficult at the local level

scholarly journals Identification of Target Objects from Gaze Behavior during a Virtual Navigation Task

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah R. Enders ◽  
Robert J. Smith ◽  
Stephen M. Gordon ◽  
Anthony J. Ries ◽  
Jonathan Touryan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Movement Behavior ◽  
Gaze Behavior ◽  
Attention Task

Eye tracking has been an essential tool within the vision science community for many years. However, the majority of studies involving eye-tracking technology employ a relatively passive approach through the use of static imagery, prescribed motion, or video stimuli. This is in contrast to our everyday interaction with the natural world where we navigate our environment while actively seeking and using task-relevant visual information. For this reason, vision researchers are beginning to use virtual environment platforms, which offer interactive, realistic visual environments while maintaining a substantial level of experimental control. Here, we recorded eye movement behavior while participants freely navigated through a complex virtual environment. Within this environment, participants completed a visual search task where they were asked to find and count occurrence of specific targets among numerous distractor items. We assigned each participant into one of four target groups: Humvees, motorcycles, aircraft, or furniture. Our results show a significant relationship between gaze behavior and target objects across subject groups. Specifically, we see an increased number of fixations and increase dwell time on target relative to distractor objects. In addition, we included a divided attention task to investigate how search patterns changed with the addition of a secondary task. With increased cognitive load, subjects slowed their speed, decreased gaze on objects, and increased the number of objects scanned in the environment. Overall, our results confirm previous findings from more controlled laboratory settings and demonstrate that complex virtual environments can be used for active visual search experimentation, maintaining a high level of precision in the quantification of gaze information and visual attention. This study contributes to our understanding of how individuals search for information in a naturalistic virtual environment. Likewise, our paradigm provides an intriguing look into the heterogeneity of individual behaviors when completing an un-timed visual search task while actively navigating.

Foggy windows: Pupillary responses during task preparation

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (10) ◽  
pp. 2235-2248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Trani ◽  
Paul Verhaeghen
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Pupil Dilation ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Task Preparation ◽  
Pupillary Responses ◽  
Post Trial

We investigated pupil dilation in 96 subjects during task preparation and during a post-trial interval in a visual search task and an auditory working memory task. Completely informative difficulty cues (easy, medium, or hard) were presented right before task preparation to examine whether pupil dilation indicated advance mobilisation of attentional resources; functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have argued for the existence of such task preparation, and the literature shows that pupil dilation tracks attentional effort during task performance. We found, however, little evidence for such task preparation. In the working memory task, pupil size was identical across cues, and although pupil dilation in the visual search task tracked the cue, pupil dilation predicted subsequent performance in neither task. Pupil dilation patterns in the post-trial interval were more consistent with an effect of emotional reactivity. Our findings suggest that the mobilisation of attentional resources in the service of the task does not occur during the preparatory interval, but is delayed until the task itself is initiated.

scholarly journals Evolutionary Relevance Facilitates Visual Information Processing

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 147470491301100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell E. Jackson ◽  
Dustin P. Calvillo
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Perceptual Load ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Visual Information Processing ◽  
Significant Component ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences

Visual search of the environment is a fundamental human behavior that perceptual load affects powerfully. Previously investigated means for overcoming the inhibitions of high perceptual load, however, generalize poorly to real-world human behavior. We hypothesized that humans would process evolutionarily relevant stimuli more efficiently than evolutionarily novel stimuli, and evolutionary relevance would mitigate the repercussions of high perceptual load during visual search. Animacy is a significant component to evolutionary relevance of visual stimuli because perceiving animate entities is time-sensitive in ways that pose significant evolutionary consequences. Participants completing a visual search task located evolutionarily relevant and animate objects fastest and with the least impact of high perceptual load. Evolutionarily novel and inanimate objects were located slowest and with the highest impact of perceptual load. Evolutionary relevance may importantly affect everyday visual information processing.

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