Abstract
In three experiments, subjects searched from left to right for a target letter in a horizontal array as a window moved in synchrony with their eyes. Wherever the subject looked within the window, letters from the search array were available for processing; outside the window, each letter in the array was replaced by an X (in Experiments 1 and 2) or by some different letter (in Experiment 3). In all three experiments, subjects were held to a high level of accuracy. Experiment 1 indicated that there are two regions of processing, one central, or decision, region and a second more eccentric, or preview, region. Experiment 2 indicated that the sizes of both the decision and preview regions increase as the target is made more dissimilar to the distractors. Furthermore, the results of the experiment suggested that more than just location information (information about where next to move the eyes) is obtained from the preview region. Finally, Experiment 3 indicated that, although the additional information subjects gain from the preview region includes partial letter information, this information cannot be used to make a decision about the absence of a target. In short, there appear to be two qualitatively different regions in visual search: a decision region, where information about the presence/absence of a target is available, and a preview region, where partial letter information is available but where information on the absence of a target is not available.
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This research was supported by Grant MH 39960 from the National Institute of Mental Health.
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Rayner, K., Fisher, D.L. Letter processing during eye fixations in visual search. Perception & Psychophysics 42, 87–100 (1987). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211517
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211517