The transference of eye movement strategy between two unrelated visual search tasks

Thompson, C; Crundall, D

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the carry-over of a location-based attentional set from a low-level visual search task to a search of natural images, using eye movements as the dependent measure. In each trial participants searched through letter strings arranged horizontally, vertically, or randomly across the screen, and then searched a natural image. Across all three studies the orientation of the letters influenced the spread of search in the picture task; participants showed wider search in the horizontal axis following a horizontal letter search, and wider search in the vertical axis following a vertical letter search. In Experiment Two this ‘carry-over’ effect also persisted to a second viewing of the natural images. Despite being unrelated to the picture search task, the strategy used to complete the letter search was influencing the way participants searched the pictures. Data from Experiment Three revealed that the strategy used to complete the picture search could also transfer to the letter search. When the task demands in the picture search were manipulated in order to influence fixation duration this had an impact upon fixation duration in the letter search task. The implications of these findings will be discussed.

Citation

Thompson, C., & Crundall, D. (2009, August). The transference of eye movement strategy between two unrelated visual search tasks. Presented at 15th European Conference on Eye Movements, Southampton, UK

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: 15th European Conference on Eye Movements
• Conference Location: Southampton, UK
• Start Date: Aug 24, 2009
• End Date: Aug 26, 2009
• Deposit Date: Jul 7, 2015
• Publisher URL: http://www.jemr.org/online/3/ecem-15-abstracts/1
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference