The role of configuration and target discriminability in a visual search task

The role of memory in visual search has lately become a controversial issue. Horowitz and Wolfe (1998) observed that performance in a visual search task was little affected by whether the stimuli were static or randomly relocated every 111 ms. Because a memory-based mechanism, such as inhibition of return, would be of no use in the dynamic condition, Horowitz and Wolfe concluded that memory is likewise not involved in the static condition. However, Horowitz and Wolfe could not effectively rule out the possibility that observers adopted a different strategy in the dynamic condition than in the static condition. That is, in the dynamic condition observers may have attended to a subregion of the display and waited for the target to appear there (sit-and-wait strategy). This hypothesis is supported by experimental data showing that performance in their dynamic condition does not differ from performance in another dynamic condition in which observers are forced to adopt a sit-and-wait strategy by being presented with a limited region of the display only.

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Stimuli similarity in subsequent search misses

Experimental Psychology (Russia) ◽

10.17759/exppsy.2018110304 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 51-62

Author(s):

A.A. Lanina ◽

E.S. Gorbunova

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Target Detection ◽

Search Task ◽

Visual Search Task ◽

Search Time ◽

Resource Depletion ◽

Target Condition ◽

Subsequent Search Misses ◽

Dual Target

The role of targets categorical similarity in subsequent search misses (SSM) effect, which assumes second target omission after the first target was found in visual search task, was observed. Participant’s task was to search for the targets (even or odd digits) among distracters (odd or ever digits, respectively). On each trial, it could be two, one or no targets. In dual target condition, the targets could be equal digits or different. 22 participants were tested, mean age — 18.73. Accuracy at detecting the second target after the first one was found was compared. Targets similarity had the significant effect on second target detection performance, F (1, 30) = 9.69, p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.316, and on the search time, F (1, 31) = 28.29, p < 0.000, ηp2 = 0.574. In two dissimilar targets condition the participants missed the second target more often and found it slowly as compared to two similar targets condition. The results are discussed in the context perceptual set and resource depletion theories.

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The Role of Morningness and Endurance in Mood and Attention During Morning and Evening Hours

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000189 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 73-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Konrad S. Jankowski ◽

Marcin Zajenkowski

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Selective Attention ◽

Search Task ◽

Visual Search Task ◽

Time Of Day ◽

Diurnal Variations ◽

Testing Session ◽

Hedonic Tone ◽

Polish Version

Abstract. This study aimed at testing the effects of morningness-eveningness and endurance on mood and selective attention during morning and evening hours. University students (N = 80) completed the Polish version of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, the Formal Characteristics of Behaviour-Temperament Inventory, and two testing sessions scheduled during the morning and evening hours. Each testing session consisted of completing the UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist composed of three scales: energetic arousal (EA), tense arousal (TA), and hedonic tone (HT), and a computerized visual search task. Without consideration of morningness and endurance, a time-of-day effect appeared in the visual attention but not in affect: participants were more accurate and faster in the evening than in the morning. Considering morningness and endurance, neither of them influenced the selective attention but they did influence mood. Morningness influenced diurnal variations in EA and HT in such a way that from morning to evening hours, morning chronotypes showed a decrease and evening types an increase in EA and HT. During morning hours, morningness was related to higher EA and HT and lower TA, but endurance was not. During evening hours, morningness was unrelated to mood, but endurance was linked to higher EA. It is concluded that morningness and endurance impact mood differently throughout the day, with the role of morningness decreasing and the role of endurance increasing as the day progresses.

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