title: Cat and mouse search: the influence of scene and object analysis on eye movements when targets change locations during search.
abstract: We explored the influence of early scene analysis and visible object characteristics on eye movements when searching for objects in photographs of scenes. On each trial, participants were shown sequentially either a scene preview or a uniform grey screen (250 ms), a visual mask, the name of the target and the scene, now including the target at a likely location. During the participant's first saccade during search, the target location was changed to: (i) a different likely location, (ii) an unlikely but possible location or (iii) a very implausible location. The results showed that the first saccade landed more often on the likely location in which the target re-appeared than on unlikely or implausible locations, and overall the first saccade landed nearer the first target location with a preview than without. Hence, rapid scene analysis influenced initial eye movement planning, but availability of the target rapidly modified that plan. After the target moved, it was found more quickly when it appeared in a likely location than when it appeared in an unlikely or implausible location. The findings show that both scene gist and object properties are extracted rapidly, and are used in conjunction to guide saccadic eye movements during visual search.This article is part of the themed issue 'Auditory and visual scene analysis'.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Southampton, Shackleton Building, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK a.hillstrom@soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Anne P
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4959-1695
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Hillstrom
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, DF 70040-020, Brazil.
authors.forename: Joice D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Segabinazi
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Southampton, Shackleton Building, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: Hayward J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Godwin
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Southampton, Shackleton Building, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: Simon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Liversedge
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Southampton, Shackleton Building, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK v.benson@soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Benson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D012438:Saccades; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: eye movement planning; scene gist; visual search