The relative contribution of scene context and target features to visual search in scenes

Many experiments have shown that knowing a targets visual features improves search performance over knowing the target name. Other experiments have shown that scene context can facilitate object search in natural scenes. In this study, we investigated how scene context and target features affect sea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Attention, perception & psychophysics perception & psychophysics, 2010-07, Vol.72 (5), p.1283-1297
Main Authors: Castelhano, Monica S., Heaven, Chelsea
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activity levels. Psychomotricity
Association Learning
Attention
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive Psychology
Color Perception
Cues
Discrimination Learning
Eye Movements
Fixation, Ocular
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Guidance Objectives
Humans
Influence
Motor Reactions
Orientation
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Perception
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Saccades
Semantics
Semiotics
Stimuli
Studies
Vigilance. Attention. Sleep
Vision
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Summary:Many experiments have shown that knowing a targets visual features improves search performance over knowing the target name. Other experiments have shown that scene context can facilitate object search in natural scenes. In this study, we investigated how scene context and target features affect search performance. We examined two possible sources of information from scene context—the scenes gist and the visual details of the scene—and how they potentially interact with target-feature information. Prior to commencing search, participants were shown a scene and a target cue depicting either a picture or the category name (or no-information control). Using eye movement measures, we investigated how the target features and scene context influenced two components of search: early attentional guidance processes and later verification processes involved in the identification of the target. We found that both scene context and target features improved guidance, but that target features also improved speed of target recognition. Furthermore, we found that a scenes visual details played an important role in improving guidance, much more so than did the scenes gist alone.
ISSN:1943-3921
1943-393X
DOI:10.3758/APP.72.5.1283