Age-related changes in visual lobe shape characteristics and their relationship to visual search performance

• Published in: Ergonomics 2014-09, Vol.57 (9), p.1300-1314
• Main Authors: Yu, Rui-feng, Yang, Lin-dong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult. Elderly; Age; age differences; Age Factors; Aging; Aging - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Boundaries; Brain - anatomy & histology; Deterioration; Developmental psychology; Ergonomics; Fixation, Ocular; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Lobes; Middle Aged; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Perception; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reaction Time; Regression analysis; Roundness; Searching; Task Performance and Analysis; Tasks; Vision; Visual; Visual Fields; visual lobe; Visual Perception; visual search; Visual task performance; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0014-0139; 1366-5847
• DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2014.921328

Visual lobe shape plays an important role in visual search performance, but little is known about the age-related changes in visual lobe shape. The age-related changes in visual lobe shape characteristics and their relationships to visual search performance were investigated in this study. A total of 96 participants aged 15-64 years participated in this study. Their visual lobes were mapped on a uniform 2-D test field composed of 24 regularly spaced meridians passing through the centre of the visual field, and their search performances were also measured. The results showed that in general, age significantly affected visual lobe size, visual lobe shape and search time. As age increased, the visual lobe size decreased; in addition, the roundness, boundary smoothness, symmetry and regularity of the visual lobe deteriorated, and the search time increased. Moreover, significant correlations between visual lobe shape, search time and age were found. Regression analyses indicated that age was important in determining visual lobe shape and search time, suggesting that age differences should be considered when predicting search time and when designing tasks and products that involve visual search in our daily lives and work. Practitioner Summary: Age-related changes in visual lobe shape characteristics and their relationships to visual search performance were investigated in this study. The results help to explain how tasks and products involving visual search in our daily lives and work should be designed for target audiences of different ages.