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Searching in Space and in Time

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The Influence of Attention, Learning, and Motivation on Visual Search

Part of the book series: Nebraska Symposium on Motivation ((NSM))

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Abstract

Our conception of attention is intricately linked to limited processing capacity and the consequent requirement to select, in both space and time, what objects and actions will have access to these limited resources. Seminal studies by Treisman(Cognitive Psychology, 12, 97-136, 1980) and Broadbent (Perception and Psychophysics, 42, 105-113, 1987; Raymond et al. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 18, 849-860, 1992) offered the field tasks for exploring the properties of attention when searching in space and time. After describing the natural history of a search episode we briefly review some of these properties. We end with the question: Is there one attentional “beam” that operates in both space and time to integrate features into objects? We sought an answer by exploring the distribution of errors when the same participant searched for targets presented at the same location with items distributed over time (McLean et al. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 35A, 171–186, 1982) and presented all at once with items distributed over space (Snyder Journal of Experimental Psychology, 92, 428–431, 1972). Preliminary results revealed a null correlation between spatial and temporal slippage suggesting separate selection mechanisms in these two domains.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Also note the absence of lag-1 sparing. This occurred, despite the very short amount of time between T1 and T2 at lag 1, because T1 had nevertheless been masked—see Fig. 6).

  2. 2.

    Some readers may find this surprising, but even though Posner’s laboratory (which is where these experiments were conducted) was in the forefront of using computers for psychological research, in 1971 there was almost no possibility of computerized presentation with color displays.

  3. 3.

    Snyder (1972) used ‘legitimate’ trials for the analyses reported in his paper. By his definition legitimate trials are trials for which the reported location falls within ± 1 of the location of reported identity.

  4. 4.

    This is the beam controlled exogenously by bottom-up stimulation (see also, Briand and Klein 1987). To be sure, and as described earlier, the ACS or selection schedule was put into operation by endogenous control mechanisms.

  5. 5.

    When we applied Snyder’s exclusion criteria (i.e., legitimate trials, see footnote 3) to both our spatial and temporal tasks, the correlation was marginally significant, r = 0.34, p = 0.051, but becomes non-significant when a single outlier is removed (r = 0.20). For a confident conclusion, further research is required.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dalhousie University, 6299 South Street, B3H3J5, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Raymond M. Klein & Yoko Ishigami

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  1. Raymond M. Klein
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Correspondence to Raymond M. Klein .

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  1. University of Nebraska, 222 Burnett Hall, Lincoln, 68588, Nebraska, USA

    Michael D. Dodd

  2. University of Nebraska, Burnett Hall 219, Lincoln, 68588-0308, Nebraska, USA

    John H. Flowers

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Klein, R., Ishigami, Y. (2012). Searching in Space and in Time. In: Dodd, M., Flowers, J. (eds) The Influence of Attention, Learning, and Motivation on Visual Search. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4794-8_2

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