Skip to main content

Color and Visual Search, Color Singletons

  • Living reference work entry
  • Latest version View entry history
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology

Synonyms

Color pop-out

Definition

Visual search is a task requiring detection of one or more target items within a multi-item display populated by both target(s) and distractors.

Characteristics of the Visual Search Task

In a visual search task, the item that is being searched for is known as the target; other items are known as distractors. Figure 1 presents an example of visual search displays with one target item and a varying number of distractor items. Participant’s task is to indicate whether a target is present or absent in the display, or to report an attribute of the target (e.g., whether it is on the left or right side). The total number of items in the display is known as the set size. Items in the search display can differ along various feature dimensions, for example, color or orientation. Individual items can take on different feature valuesfrom that dimension – for example, color (red or blue), or orientation (vertical or horizontal). If items in the visual search task...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Alexander, R.G., Nahvi, R.J., Zelinsky, G.J.: Specifying the precision of guiding features for visual search. J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform. 45(9), 1248–1264 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Ansorge, U., Becker, S.I.: Contingent capture in cueing: The role of color search templates and cue-target color relations. Psychol. Res.-Psychol. Forsch. 78(2), 209–221 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-013-0497-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bae, G.Y., Olkkonen, M., Allred, S.R., Flombaum, J.I.: Why some colors appear more memorable than others: A model combining categories and particulars in color working memory. J. Exp. Psychol.-Gen. 144(4), 744–763 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000076

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Eckstein, M.P.: Visual search: A retrospective. J. Vis. 11, 5 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Harris, A.M., Remington, R.W., Becker, S.I.: Feature specificity in attentional capture by size and color. J. Vis. 13(3) (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Li, J.C., Sampson, G.P., Vidyasagar, T.R.: Interactions between luminance and colour channels in visual search and their relationship to parallel neural channels in vision. Exp. Brain Res. 176(3), 510–518 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0773-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Lindsey, D.T., Brown, A.M., Reijnen, E., Rich, A.N., Kuzmova, Y.I., Wolfe, J.M.: Color channels, not color appearance or color categories, guide visual search for desaturated color targets. Psychol. Sci. 21(9), 1208–1214 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610379861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Martinovic, J., Wuerger, S.M., Hillyard, S.A., Müller, M.M., Andersen, S.K.: Neural mechanisms of divided feature-selective attention to colour. NeuroImage. 181, 670–682 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.07.033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Nagy, A.L., Sanchez, R.R.: Critical color differences determined with a visual-search task. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A-Opt. Image Sci. Vis. 7(7), 1209–1217 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1364/josaa.7.001209

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Nakayama, K., Martini, P.: Situating visual search. Vis. Res. 51(13), 1526–1537 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2010.09.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Stroud, M.J., Menneer, T., Cave, K.R., Donnelly, N.: Using the dual-target cost to explore the nature of search target representations. J. Exp. Psychol.-Hum. Percept. Perform. 38(1), 113–122 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025887

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Sun, P., Chubb, C., Wright, C.E., Sperling, G.: Human attention filters for single colors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 113(43), E6712–E6720 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1614062113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Treisman, A.M., Gelade, G.: A feature-integration theory of attention. Cogn. Psychol. 12, 97–136 (1980)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Wolfe, J.M.: Visual search: How do we find what we are looking for? Annu. Rev. Vis. Sci. 6(1), 539–562 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-vision-091718-015048

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Wolfe, J.M., Cain, M.S., Aizenman, A.M.: Guidance and selection history in hybrid foraging visual search. Atten. Percept. Psychophys. 81(3), 637–653 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-018-01649-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jasna Martinovic .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Science+Business Media LLC

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Martinovic, J., Hardman, A. (2022). Color and Visual Search, Color Singletons. In: Shamey, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_82-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_82-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Color and Visual Search, Color Singletons
    Published:
    30 June 2022

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_82-2

  2. Original

    Color and Visual Search, Color Singletons
    Published:
    20 May 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_82-1