On the speed of pop-out in feature search.
When something unique is present in a scene, this element may become immediately visible and one has the impression that it pops out from the scene. This phenomenon, known as pop-out in the visual search literature, is thought to produce the fastest search possible, and response times for the detection of the pop-out target do not vary as a function of the number of nontargets. In this study, we challenge this notion and show that the detection of a given visual feature is faster for multiple targets than for a single pop-out target. However, when the task requires a detailed target analysis, the pop-out condition can be faster than the multiple-target condition. Current models of visual search are discussed in light of the findings.
Turatto
Massimo
M
Department of Cognitive Sciences and Education, University of Trento, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, Rovereto, TN, Italy. massimo.turatto@unitn.it
Valsecchi
Matteo
M
Seiffert
Adriane E
AE
Caramazza
Alfonso
A
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D003657:Decision Making; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time