Response times and eye movements in feature and conjunction search as a function of target eccentricity
DOI: 10.3758/bf03211940
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
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Summary
This study investigates the relationship between visual search performance, eye movements, and target eccentricity in feature versus conjunction search tasks. While traditional models of visual attention often rely on display size effects, recent evidence suggests that target location (eccentricity) significantly impacts search efficiency. The authors aimed to determine how target eccentricity affects reaction times (RTs), accuracy, and saccadic eye movements, and whether the oculomotor and attentional systems are functionally linked. Specifically, they tested whether conjunction search, which requires focused attention, exhibits larger eccentricity effects than feature search, and whether practice can mitigate these effects. The research comprised four experiments using eye-tracking technology to measure saccades, fixation durations, RTs, and accuracy. In Experiments 1A and 1B, observers searched for targets defined by a single feature (orientation or contrast) or a conjunction of two features (orientation and contrast) at eccentricities ranging from 3.82° to 13.94°. Experiment 2 examined conjunction search under conditions where saccades were precluded to isolate attentional effects. Experiment 3 assessed the impact of extensive practice on conjunction search performance. Stimuli consisted of line elements presented in a matrix, with targets placed at varying distances from fixation. Results from Experiments 1A and 1B revealed a significant conjunction search deficit characterized by large eccentricity effects. For conjunction targets, RTs, error rates, and the number of saccades increased substantially as eccentricity increased, whereas feature search performance remained largely independent of eccentricity. Experiment 2 demonstrated that when eye movements were prevented, the eccentricity effect for conjunction search became even more pronounced, suggesting that saccades partially compensate for attentional limitations in peripheral vision. Experiment 3 showed that extensive practice in conjunction search eliminated the eccentricity effects on RTs and saccade counts, rendering performance independent of target location. Additionally, fixation data indicated feature-based selectivity, with observers more likely to fixate distractors sharing the target’s contrast polarity. The findings support the hypothesis that the oculomotor and attentional systems are functionally linked, consistent with sequential attention models. The data suggest that conjunction search requires a narrow focus of attention that declines with distance from fixation, necessitating more eye movements to locate eccentric targets. The elimination of eccentricity effects through practice implies that observers can develop strategies to process conjunctions more efficiently, potentially by selecting relevant feature subsets. These results provide constraints for models of visual attention, highlighting the critical role of eye movements in compensating for the spatial limitations of the attentional spotlight during difficult search tasks.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-17 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| extract | success | pdftotext | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| enrich | failed | — | — | — | 5 | 2026-07-05 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-17 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-26 |
| verify | partial | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-25; verification: verified_with_issues.
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