The nesting of search contexts within natural scenes: evidence from contextual cuing.
In a contextual cuing paradigm, we examined how memory for the spatial structure of a natural scene guides visual search. Participants searched through arrays of objects that were embedded within depictions of real-world scenes. If a repeated search array was associated with a single scene during study, then array repetition produced significant contextual cuing. However, expression of that learning was dependent on instantiating the original scene in which the learning occurred: Contextual cuing was disrupted when the repeated array was transferred to a different scene. Such scene-specific learning was not absolute, however. Under conditions of high scene variability, repeated search array were learned independently of the scene background. These data suggest that when a consistent environmental structure is available, spatial representations supporting visual search are organized hierarchically, with memory for functional subregions of an environment nested within a representation of the larger scene.
Brooks
Daniel I
DI
University of Iowa, Department of Psychology, Iowa City, IA 52242-1407, USA. danielbrooks@uiowa.edu
Rasmussen
Ian P
IP
Hollingworth
Andrew
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001245:Association Learning; D003118:Color Perception; D003463:Cues; D003867:Depth Perception; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception; D014163:Transfer, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult