When visual search functions look like item recognition functions

Kristofferson, Marianne W.; Groen, Mary; Kristofferson, Alfred B. · 1973 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3758/bf03198632

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This study investigates the conditions under which visual search functions resemble item recognition functions, specifically examining how variables such as error level, memory set structure, response consistency, and practice influence the effect of target set size on search time. Previous research indicated that item recognition functions are linear and stable with practice only when error levels are low, memory sets are nonnested, and response requirements are inconsistent. The authors hypothesized that applying these same constraints to a visual search task would yield similar linear, stable results, thereby demonstrating that these variables are sufficient to control and predict the set-size effect in both paradigms. The experiment involved six participants who performed a visual search task over 30 daily sessions. Participants searched lists of 50 alphanumeric items (six characters each) to locate a target character from a memorized set. The target set size varied across three conditions: 1, 2, or 4 items. Crucially, the target sets were nonnested and changed randomly each session, ensuring that the same character sometimes required a positive response and sometimes a negative one (response inconsistency). Participants were instructed to maintain low error rates. Search times were recorded using a specialized apparatus that measured the time from stimulus exposure to marking the target. Data were analyzed by plotting search times against target position to determine the scanning rate (slope) and intercept for each session, with results aggregated over successive six-day blocks. The results demonstrated that visual search functions were linear for all five six-day blocks, with the variance accounted for by linear regression ranging from 98.9% to 99.8%. The slopes of these functions, representing memory search time, averaged approximately 0.500 seconds per six-character item (about 83 msec per character) and remained stable across the final four blocks. The intercepts for the final three blocks approximated zero (averaging 0.0068 sec), suggesting that visual search time is determined entirely by memory search time or processes that increase linearly with set size. The significantly faster slope observed in the first block was attributed to a speed-accuracy tradeoff, as error rates were higher initially. When errors were normalized by set size, the balance of speed and accuracy was consistent across set sizes after the first block. The study concludes that under conditions of low error, nonnested sets, and response inconsistency, visual search performance is qualitatively similar to item recognition performance, both exhibiting linear functions stable over practice. However, the estimated memory search time in the visual search task (83 msec/character) was substantially slower than that in item recognition tasks (35–40 msec/character). The authors propose that this difference arises because visual search involves additional processing stages or parallel processes not present in simple item recognition. These findings support the view that specific experimental parameters, rather than the task type itself, determine the functional form of the set-size effect.

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• visual search