Comparable search efficiency for human and animal targets in the context of natural scenes
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Comparable search efficiency for human and animal targets in the context of natural scenes Katja M. Mayer 1,2 & Ian M. Thornton 3 & Quoc C. Vuong 2
# The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2019
Abstract In a previous series of studies, we have shown that search for human targets in the context of natural scenes is more efficient than search for mechanical targets. Here we asked whether this search advantage extends to other categories of biological objects. We used videos of natural scenes to directly contrast search efficiency for animal and human targets among biological or nonbiological distractors. In visual search arrays consisting of two, four, six, or eight videos, observers searched for animal targets among machine distractors, and vice versa (Exp. 1). Another group searched for animal targets among human distractors, and vice versa (Exp. 2). We measured search slope as a proxy for search efficiency, and complemented the slope with eye movement measurements (fixation duration on the target, as well as the proportion of first fixations landing on the target). In both experiments, we observed no differences in search slopes or proportions of first fixations between any of the target–distractor category pairs. With respect to fixation durations, we found shorter on-target fixations only for animal targets as compared to machine targets (Exp. 1). In summary, we did not find that the search advantage for human targets over mechanical targets extends to other biological objects. We also found no search advantage for detecting humans as compared to other biological objects. Overall, our pattern of findings suggests that search efficiency in natural scenes, as elsewhere, depends crucially on the specific target– distractor categories. Keywords Visual search . Natural scenes . Biological motion . Biological form . Eyetracking . Animal motion
Efficient processing of animate, biological objects is beneficial from an ecological point of view. It allows observers to find partners for social interactions or to avoid dangerous animals, for example. Recently we provided evidence that visual scenes containing one specific class of biological object— human beings—are processed more efficiently than those containing nonbiological, mechanical objects (Mayer, Vuong, & Thornton, 2015, 2017). Using a standard visual search paradigm (Treisman & Gelade, 1980; Treisman & Souther, 1985; Wolfe, 1998; Wolfe & Horowitz, 2004, 2017), we showed that human targets embedded in natural scenes were located more efficiently than a range of complex, mechanical targets. This
* Katja M. Mayer [email protected] 1
Institute for Psychology, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
2
Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
3
Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
human search advantage, observed in terms of shallower search slopes, occurred in a standard search asymmetry design (in which humans and machines served as the targets and distracto
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