A STUDY OF VISUAL SEARCH USING EYE MOVEMENT RECORDINGS

摘要

The object of study in the present program is visual search in crowded fields. The basic goal is to predict search times for arbitrary targets in arbitrary backgrounds. The basis of our framework is that the specific objects at which an observer looks depends on the specific targets for which he searches. The average time to find a given target depends on what types of objects he is likely to look at and the numbers and types of objects in the search field.nThis viewpoint is exploited in our study program by conducting experiments which determine what things observers look at while searching for different types of targets. During 1965 two main studies were performed pursuant to this goal.nThe objective in Study I was to determine how observers' search behavior was affected by specification of one or more target characteristics. The data show that observers do look at objects having the target specifications. Color has much greater force than does size. For fields containing objects of five different colors, approximately 60 percent of the objects looked at were of the specified color. Size has somewhat more force than shape. When two or three target characteristics were specified, observers tended to ignore the less potent characteristics. For example, when they knew the size, color, and shape of the target they tended only to look at objects of the specified color. The time scores were highly related to the fixation data. When subjects were able to use the target information more efficiently, they found the targets faster.nStudy II was concerned with the utilization of shape information. The prob¬lem was to determine in what types of backgrounds shape information could be used most effectively.