Abstract
Motivated by the fact that previous visual memory paradigms have imposed encoding and retrieval constraints, the present article presents two experiments that address how observers allocate eye movements in memory and comparison processes in the absence of constraints. Acomparative visual search design (Pomplun, Sichelschmidt, et al., 2001) was utilized in which observers searched for a difference between two images presented side by side. Robust time course effects were obtained, whereby search was characterized by brief fixations and a high proportion of comparative saccades. Then, upon target detection, fixations were extended, more comparative saccades were elicited, and the search focus was narrowed. The saliency and presence of differences did not guide attention, and detection was contingent upon direct fixation of the targets. The results indicate that, when full control is given, observers adopt a strategy that cuts down on memory usage in favor of restricted encoding and active scanning.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agostinelli, G., Sherman, S. J., Fazio, R. H., &Hearst, E. S. (1986). Detecting and identifying change: Additions versus deletions.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,12, 445–454.
Antes, J. (1974). The time course of picture viewing.Journal of Experimental Psychology,103, 62–70.
Ballard, D., Hayhoe, M., &Pelz, J. (1995). Memory representations in natural tasks.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,7, 66–80.
Buswell, G. T. (1935).How people look at pictures: A study of the psychology of perception in art. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Gould, J. D. (1967). Pattern recognition and eye-movement parameters.Perception & Psychophysics,2, 399–407.
Gould, J. D. (1973). Eye movements during visual search and memory search.Journal of Experimental Psychology,98, 184–195.
Gould, J. D., &Peeples, D. R. (1970). Eye movements during visual search and discrimination of meaningless, symbol, and object patterns.Journal of Experimental Psychology,85, 51–55.
Henderson, J. M., &Hollingworth, A. (2003). Eye movements and visual memory: Detecting changes to saccade targets in scenes.Perception & Psychophysics,65, 58–71.
Henderson, J. M., Williams, C. C., Castelhano, M. S., &Falk, R. J. (2003). Eye movements and picture processing during recognition.Perception & Psychophysics,65, 725–734.
Hollingworth, A., &Henderson, J. M. (2002). Accurate visual memory for previously attended objects in natural scenes.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,28, 113–136.
Hollingworth, A., Schrock, G., &Henderson, J. M. (2001). Change detection in the flicker paradigm: The role of fixation position within the scene.Memory & Cognition,29, 296–304.
Hooge, I. T. C., &Erkelens, C. J. (1996). Control of fixation duration in a simple search task.Perception & Psychophysics,58, 969–976.
Hooge, I. T. C., &Erkelens, C. J. (1998). Adjustment of fixation duration in visual search.Vision Research,38, 1295–1302.
Irwin, D. E. (1991). Information integration across saccadic eye movements.Cognitive Psychology,23, 420–456.
Irwin, D. E., &Zelinsky, G. J. (2002). Eye movements and scene perception: Memory for things observed.Perception & Psychophysics,64, 882–895.
Jacobs, A. M. (1986). Eye-movement control in visual search: How direct is visual span control?Perception & Psychophysics,39, 47–58.
Jacobs, A. M., &O’Regan, J. K. (1987). Spatial and/or temporal adjustments of scanning behavior to visibility changes.Acta Psychologica,65, 133–146.
Just, M. A., &Carpenter, P. A. (1976). Eye fixations and cognitive processes.Cognitive Psychology,8, 441–480.
Karpov, B. A., Luria, A. R., &Yarbus, A. L. (1968). Disturbances of the structure of active perception in lesions of the posterior and anterior regions of the brain.Neuropsychologia,6, 157–166.
Loftus, G. (1972). Eye fixations and recognition memory for pictures.Cognitive Psychology,3, 525–551.
Matin, E. (1974). Saccadic suppression: A review and analysis.Psychological Bulletin,81, 899–917.
McConkie, G. W., &Currie, C. B. (1996). Visual stability across saccades while viewing complex pictures.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,22, 563–581.
Melcher, D., &Kowler, E. (2001). Visual scene memory and the guidance of saccadic eye movements.Vision Research,41, 3579–3611.
Nelson, W. W., &Loftus, G. (1980). The functional visual field during picture viewing.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory,6, 391–399.
O’Regan, J. K. (1992). Solving the “real” mysteries of visual perception: The world as an outside memory.Canadian Journal of Psychology,46, 461–488.
Parker, R. E. (1978). Picture processing during recognition.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,4, 284–293.
Phillips, W. A. (1974). On the distinction between sensory storage and short-term visual memory.Perception & Psychophysics,16, 283–290.
Pomplun, M., Reingold, E. M., &Shen, J. (2001). Investigating the visual span in comparative search: The effects of task difficulty and divided attention.Cognition,81, B57-B67.
Pomplun, M., &Ritter, H. (1999). A three-level model of comparative visual search. In M. Hahn & S. C. Stoness (Eds.),Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 543–548). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Pomplun, M., Sichelschmidt, L., Wagner, K., Clermont, T., Rickheit, G., &Ritter, H. (2001). Comparative visual search: A difference that makes a difference.Cognitive Science,25, 3–36.
Rayner, K. (1998). Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research.Psychological Bulletin,124, 372–422.
Rensink, R. A. (1998). Mindsight: Visual sensing without seeing [Abstract].Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science,39, 631.
Rensink, R. A. (2002). Change detection.Annual Review of Psychology,53, 245–277.
Rensink, R. A. (2004). Visual sensing without seeing.Psychological Science,15, 27–32.
Rensink, R. A., O’Regan, J. K., &Clark, J. J. (1997). To see or not to see: The need for attention to perceive changes in scenes.Psychological Science,8, 368–373.
Scinto, L. F., Pillalamarri, R., &Karsh, R. (1986). Cognitive strategies for visual search.Acta Psychologica,62, 263–292.
Shepard, R. N. (1967). Recognition memory for words, sentences, and pictures.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,6, 155–163.
Shore, D. I., &Klein, R. M. (2000). The effects of scene inversion on change blindness.Journal of General Psychology,127, 27–43.
Simons, D. J. (1996). In sight, out of mind: When object representations fail.Psychological Science,7, 301–305.
Simons, D. J. (2000). Current approaches to change blindness.Visual Cognition,7, 1–15.
Standing, L., Conezio, J., &Haber, R. N. (1970). Perception and memory for pictures: Single-trial learning of 2500 visual stimuli.Psychonomic Science,19, 73–74.
Underwood, G., Chapman, P., Berger, Z., &Crundall, D. (2003). Driving experience, attentional focusing, and the recall of recently inspected events.Transportation Research Part F,6, 289–304.
Underwood, G., Jebbett, L., &Roberts, K. (2004). Inspecting pictures for information to verify a sentence: Eye movements in general encoding and focused search.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,57A, 165–182.
Yarbus, A. L. (1967).Eye movements and vision. New York: Plenum.
Zelinsky, G. J. (2001). Eye movements during change detection: Implications for search constraints, memory limitations, and scanning strategies.Perception & Psychophysics,63, 209–225.
Zelinsky, G. J., Rao, R. P. N., Hayhoe, M. M., &Ballard, D. H. (1997). Eye movements reveal the spatiotemporal dynamics of visual search.Psychological Science,8, 448–453.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Galpin, A.J., Underwood, G. Eye movements during search and detection in comparative visual search. Perception & Psychophysics 67, 1313–1331 (2005). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193637
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193637