Summary
A model of target selection in continuous search tasks is outlined. The model was designed to account for two basic observations that are difficult to cover within the framework of the traditional target-control-type models of search, namely, pure detection (detection without identification) and pseudotarget detection (detection of new items not to be searched for). The model combines two basic assumptions: first, that targets are detected by default, that is, by virtue of the fact that they do not fit into an internal model of to-be-expected events (target detection by default) and second, that this internal model is generated, maintained, and updated on the basis of the nontarget information encountered during search (integration of non-target information). Furthermore, it is assumed that non-target integration and target detection can both be carried out at several processing levels simultaneously. The evidence available to support and develop the model is reviewed, and some of its general implications for a theory of selective attention are discussed.
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This paper is a selective summary of experimental work done in collaboration with Dieter Nattkemper and Cristina Meinecke and supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant Pr 118/5)
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Prinz, W. Continuous selection. Psychol. Res 48, 231–238 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309087
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309087