Stable individual differences in strategies within, but not between, visual search tasks

A D F Clarke; J. L. Irons; W James; A B Leber; A R Hunt

doi:10.1177/1747021820929190

Stable individual differences in strategies within, but not between, visual search tasks

A D F Clarke^* (Corresponding Author), J. L. Irons, W James, A B Leber, A R Hunt

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

13 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A striking range of individual differences has recently been reported in three different visual search tasks. These differences in performance can be attributed to strategy, that is, the efficiency with which participants control their search to complete the task quickly and accurately. Here, we ask whether an individual's strategy and performance in one search task is correlated with how they perform in the other two. We tested 64 observers and found that even though the test-retest reliability of the tasks was high, an observer's performance and strategy in one task was not predictive of their behaviour in the other two. These results suggest search strategies are stable over time, but context-specific. To understand visual search, we therefore need to account not only for differences between individuals but also how individuals interact with the search task and context.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	289-297
Number of pages	8
Journal	Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Volume	75
Issue number	2
Early online date	9 Jul 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021820929190
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

We would like to thanks Anna Nowakowska, Arni Kristjansson and Ian Thornton for sharing data and their helpful comments and suggestions. We would like to thank Charles Rigitano and Jacqueline Von Seth who helped with data collection. We acknowledge the funding support of the James S. McDonnell Foundation (Scholar Award to ARH) and NSF BCS-1632296 to ABL.

Keywords

Visual search
individual differences
optimal behaviour
eye movements

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Cite this

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AU - James, W

AU - Leber, A B

AU - Hunt, A R

N1 - We would like to thanks Anna Nowakowska, Arni Kristjansson and Ian Thornton for sharing data and their helpful comments and suggestions. We would like to thank Charles Rigitano and Jacqueline Von Seth who helped with data collection. We acknowledge the funding support of the James S. McDonnell Foundation (Scholar Award to ARH) and NSF BCS-1632296 to ABL.

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N2 - A striking range of individual differences has recently been reported in three different visual search tasks. These differences in performance can be attributed to strategy, that is, the efficiency with which participants control their search to complete the task quickly and accurately. Here, we ask whether an individual's strategy and performance in one search task is correlated with how they perform in the other two. We tested 64 observers and found that even though the test-retest reliability of the tasks was high, an observer's performance and strategy in one task was not predictive of their behaviour in the other two. These results suggest search strategies are stable over time, but context-specific. To understand visual search, we therefore need to account not only for differences between individuals but also how individuals interact with the search task and context.

AB - A striking range of individual differences has recently been reported in three different visual search tasks. These differences in performance can be attributed to strategy, that is, the efficiency with which participants control their search to complete the task quickly and accurately. Here, we ask whether an individual's strategy and performance in one search task is correlated with how they perform in the other two. We tested 64 observers and found that even though the test-retest reliability of the tasks was high, an observer's performance and strategy in one task was not predictive of their behaviour in the other two. These results suggest search strategies are stable over time, but context-specific. To understand visual search, we therefore need to account not only for differences between individuals but also how individuals interact with the search task and context.

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KW - optimal behaviour

KW - eye movements

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Stable individual differences in strategies within, but not between, visual search tasks

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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