title: Self-terminating versus exhaustive processes in rapid visual and memory search: an evaluative review.
abstract: A major issue in elementary cognition and information processing has been whether rapid search of short-term memory or a visual display can terminate when a predesignated target is found or whether it must proceed until all items are examined. This study summarizes past and recent theoretical results on the ability of self-terminating and exhaustive models to predict differences in slopes between positive (target-present) and negative (target-absent) set-size functions, as well as position effects. The empirical literature is reviewed with regard to the presence of slope differences and position effects. Theoretical investigations demonstrate that self-terminating models can readily predict the results often associated with exhaustive processing, but a very broad class of exhaustive models is incapable of predicting position effects and slope differences typically associated with self-termination. Because position effects and slope differences are found throughout the rapid search literature, we conclude that the exhaustive processing hypothesis is not tenable under common experimental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Van Zandt
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Townsend
mesh_terms: D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D014796:Visual Perception