Visual search

• This is when something specific is sought out of a range of items.
• It can be lead by top-down processing eg shopping using a list (personal objectives) or by bottom-up processing eg being lead by visual salience, being distracted by an attractive object.
• Experimental studies relating to this, ask participants to identify specific targets within a visual display. Their success is dependent upon the distinguishing features of the target, and how many conflicting or distracting items there are.

The Flanker Task

• This is an example of an experiment testing visual search
• The participant is presented with a number of visual displays and must identify a target shape.
• Distractors are present to divert attention. These can be either compatible, (where the distractor is the same shape as the target), or competing (where the distractor is a different shape to the target)
• It takes people longer to identify the target when there are competing distractors compared to compatible distractors. This indicates that the distractor is processed even though the participants are told to ignore it.
• The Flanker Test can be carried out with either a high or low cognitive load. A low load has just 1 target and distractor, while a high load has many distractors.
• High and low cognitive loads have similar reaction times. This is because, though the high load is more complex, it has all of the attention focussed on it.