A novel, unbiased approach to evaluating subsequent search misses in dual target visual search

A little doubt saves many mistakes: Early and late error detection in copy-typing

Based on internal predictions, action-errors can be detected relatively early. Different kinds of sensory feedback further provide information about the occurrence of errors later on. To investigate the mechanisms underlying error detection in copy-typing, ten-finger-typists and hunt-and-peck-typists copy typed with and without visibility of the screen and keyboard. We expected that error detection evolves in slower typing before, during, and after an error. Results showed that more errors were reported with visible screen than with covered screen in both groups underpinning the importance of distal action-effects for error detection. Importantly, ten-finger-typists showed pre-error-slowing in the inter-keystroke-intervals (IKIs) before reported errors, but hunt-and-peck-typists did not. In both groups, error-slowing was observed in the last IKI before both reported and unreported errors. Hence, internal predictions play a role in error detection in both groups, but in ten-finger-typists, internal models may be more precise, leading to earlier error detection. Alternatively, slowing down may increase the probability of detecting errors. Finally, in both groups post-error-slowing indicates that sensory feedback from performing keystrokes contributes to error detection. In conclusion, feedback from distal action-effects (i.e., the screen), movement related feedback, and predictive mechanisms contribute to error detection in typing.

The effect of categorical superiority in subsequent search misses

Subsequent search misses (SSM) refer to the decrease in accuracy of second target detection in dual-target visual search. One of the theoretical explanations of SSM errors is similarity bias - the tendency to search for similar targets and to miss the dissimilar ones. The current study focuses on both perceptual and categorical similarity and their individual roles in SSM. Five experiments investigated the role of perceptual and categorical similarity in subsequent search misses, wherein perceptual and categorical similarities were manipulated separately, and task relevance was controlled. The role of both perceptual and categorical similarity was revealed, however, the categorical similarity had greater impact on second target detection. The findings of this research suggest the revision of the traditional perceptual set hypothesis that mainly focuses on perceptual target similarity in multiple target visual search.

From "satisfaction of search" to "subsequent search misses": a review of multiple-target search errors across radiology and cognitive science

For over 50 years, the satisfaction of search effect has been studied within the field of radiology. Defined as a decrease in detection rates for a subsequent target when an initial target is found within the image, these multiple target errors are known to underlie errors of omission (e.g., a radiologist is more likely to miss an abnormality if another abnormality is identified). More recently, they have also been found to underlie lab-based search errors in cognitive science experiments (e.g., an observer is more likely to miss a target 'T' if a different target 'T' was detected). This phenomenon was renamed the subsequent search miss (SSM) effect in cognitive science. Here we review the SSM literature in both radiology and cognitive science and discuss: (1) the current SSM theories (i.e., satisfaction, perceptual set, and resource depletion theories), (2) the eye movement errors that underlie the SSM effect, (3) the existing efforts tested to alleviate SSM errors, and (4) the evolution of methodologies and analyses used when calculating the SSM effect. Finally, we present the attentional template theory, a novel mechanistic explanation for SSM errors, which ties together our current understanding of SSM errors and the attentional template literature.

Great expectations: minor differences in initial instructions have a major impact on visual search in the absence of feedback

Professions such as radiology and aviation security screening that rely on visual search-the act of looking for targets among distractors-often cannot provide operators immediate feedback, which can create situations where performance may be largely driven by the searchers' own expectations. For example, if searchers do not expect relatively hard-to-spot targets to be present in a given search, they may find easy-to-spot targets but systematically quit searching before finding more difficult ones. Without feedback, searchers can create self-fulfilling prophecies where they incorrectly reinforce initial biases (e.g., first assuming and then, perhaps wrongly, concluding hard-to-spot targets are rare). In the current study, two groups of searchers completed an identical visual search task but with just a single difference in their initial task instructions before the experiment started; those in the "high-expectation" condition were told that each trial could have one or two targets present (i.e., correctly implying no target-absent trials) and those in the "low-expectation" condition were told that each trial would have up to two targets (i.e., incorrectly implying there could be target-absent trials). Compared to the high-expectation group, the low-expectation group had a lower hit rate, lower false alarm rate and quit trials more quickly, consistent with a lower quitting threshold (i.e., performing less exhaustive searches) and a potentially higher target-present decision criterion. The expectation effect was present from the start and remained across the experiment-despite exposure to the same true distribution of targets, the groups' performances remained divergent, primarily driven by the different subjective experiences caused by each groups' self-fulfilling prophecies. The effects were limited to the single-targets trials, which provides insights into the mechanisms affected by the initial expectations set by the instructions. In sum, initial expectations can have dramatic influences-searchers who do not expect to find a target, are less likely to find a target as they are more likely to quit searching earlier.