Memory for the search path: evidence for a high-capacity representation of search history.
Using a gaze-contingent paradigm, we directly measured observers' memory capacity for fixated distractor locations during search. After approximately half of the search objects had been fixated, they were masked and a spatial probe appeared at either a previously fixated location or a non-fixated location; observers then rated their confidence that the target had appeared at the probed location. Observers were able to differentiate the 12 most recently fixated distractor locations from non-fixated locations, but analyses revealed that these locations were represented fairly coarsely. We conclude that there exists a high-capacity, but low-resolution, memory for a search path.
Dickinson
Christopher A
CA
Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA. cdickins@udel.edu
Zelinsky
Gregory J
GJ
D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time; D012438:Saccades; D014796:Visual Perception