title: Visual search guidance is best after a short delay.
abstract: Search displays are typically presented immediately after a target cue, but in the real-world, delays often exist between target designation and search. Experiments 1 and 2 asked how search guidance changes with delay. Targets were cued using a picture or text label, each for 3000ms, followed by a delay up to 9000ms before the search display. Search stimuli were realistic objects, and guidance was quantified using multiple eye movement measures. Text-based cues showed a non-significant trend towards greater guidance following any delay relative to a no-delay condition. However, guidance from a pictorial cue increased sharply 300-600ms after preview offset. Experiment 3 replicated this guidance enhancement using shorter preview durations while equating the time from cue onset to search onset, demonstrating that the guidance benefit is linked to preview offset rather than a more complete encoding of the target. Experiment 4 showed that enhanced guidance persists even with a mask flashed at preview offset, suggesting an explanation other than visual priming. We interpret our findings as evidence for the rapid consolidation of target information into a guiding representation, which attains its maximum effectiveness shortly after preview offset.
authors.affiliation: Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Zelinsky
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*