표적 출현확률에 따른 시각탐색 정보처리 특성

초록

In our daily life, the probability of target prevalence in visual search varies from very low to high. However, most laboratory studies of visual search used a fixed probability of target prevalence at 50%. The present study examined the properties of information processing during visual search where the probability of target prevalence was manipulated to vary from low (20%), medium (50%), to high (80%). The search items were made of simple shape stimuli, and search accuracy, signal detection measures, and reaction times (RTs) were analyzed for characterizing the effect of target prevalence on the information processing strategies for visual search. The analyses showed that the rates of misses increased whereas those of false alarms decreased in the search condition of low target prevalence, whereas the pattern was reversed in the high prevalence condition. Signal detection measures revealed that the target prevalence shifted response criterion (c) without affecting sensitivity (d’). In addition, RTs for correct rejection responses in the target-absent trials became delayed as the prevalence increased, whereas those for hits in the target-present trials were relatively constant regardless of the prevalence. The RT delay in the target-absent trials indicates that increased target prevalence made the ‘quitting threshold’ for search termination more conservative. These results support an account that the target prevalence effect in visual search arises from a shift of decision criteria and the subsequent changes in search information processing, while rejecting the account of a speed-accuracy tradeoff.

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