Visual search in noise: revealing the influence of structural cues by gaze-contingent classification image analysis.

Full Abstract

Visual search experiments have usually involved the detection of a salient target in the presence of distracters against a blank background. In such high signal-to-noise scenarios, observers have been shown to use visual cues such as color, size, and shape of the target to program their saccades during visual search. The degree to which these features affect search performance is usually measured using reaction times and detection accuracy. We asked whether human observers are able to use target features to succeed in visual search tasks in stimuli with very low signal-to-noise ratios. Using the classification image analysis technique, we investigated whether observers used structural cues to direct their fixations as they searched for simple geometric targets embedded at very low signal-to-noise ratios in noise stimuli that had the spectral characteristics of natural images. By analyzing properties of the noise stimulus at observers' fixations, we were able to reveal idiosyncratic, target-dependent features used by observers in our visual search task. We demonstrate that even in very noisy displays, observers do not search randomly, but in many cases they deploy their fixations to regions in the stimulus that resemble some aspect of the target in their local image features.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Rajashekar, Umesh (U); Bovik, Alan C (AC); Cormack, Lawrence K (LK);

Affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. umesh(-atsign-)ece.utexas.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Journal of vision (J Vis), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-; vol 6 (issue 4) : pp 379-86

Dates: Created 2006/08/07; Completed 2006/09/08; Revised 2008/04/29;

PMID: 16889476, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

The fate of object features during perisaccadic mislocalization. 4 Nov 2006
Microsaccade directions do not predict directionality of illusory brightness changes of overlapping transparent surfaces. 22 Aug 2006
Effect of previously fixated locations on saccade trajectory during free visual search. 28 Aug 2006
Influence of history on saccade countermanding performance in humans and macaque monkeys. 30 Oct 2006
Neural correlates of the visual vertical meridian asymmetry. 6 Nov 2006
Control of attention and gaze in complex environments. 13 Dec 2006
Surprise, surprise: two distinct components in the visually evoked distractor effect. 27 Feb 2007
Size matters: saccades during scene perception. 30 Dec 2006
Visual memory capacity in transsaccadic integration. 14 Feb 2007
Are changes in semantic and structural information sufficient for oculomotor capture? 15 Sep 2007

See 100+ related articles.