Abstract
Monkeys searched for a target pattern presented at varying eccentricities (from 11 to 57 deg, along the horizontal meridian) with varying numbers of distractor patterns and at two contrast levels. The intercepts of the RT-target eccentricity functions were increasingly elevated as the number of distractors increased within the range presented in training, suggesting that increasing the number of distractors lengthened the time required to confirm the target’s identity following each scanning phase of search. The additional increase of the intercepts when the number of distractors increased even further without benefit of training may be interpreted similarly. Decreasing the pattern contrast increased the slopes of the functions, as did increasing the number of distractors when low-contrast stimuli were presented, implying that these stimulus changes slowed the rate of scanning by increasing the number of fixations, their duration, or both. The slopes of the functions relating RTs to number of distractors (between 0 and 9) were .030 and .035 sec/distractor for the high- and low-contrast conditions, respectively
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The research reported in this paper was supported by a grant (MH 26489) from the National Institute of Mental Health.
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Azzato, M.C., Butter, C.M. Visual search in cynomolgus monkeys: Stimulus parameters affecting two stages of visual search. Perception & Psychophysics 36, 169–176 (1984). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202677
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202677