Effect of Visual Field Constriction on Visual Search in Orderly Array and Random Array Cancellation Tasks

Abstract

The cancellation task is a visual search task requiring rapid and accurate placement of a mark through each occurrence of a specific target displayed in an array of distractors on a sheet of paper. This study of 30 university students was conducted to examine the effects of visual field constriction on visual search in the cancellation task. Participants administered the orderly array cancellation task and the random array cancellation task while their visual fields were unrestricted (full vision), or restricted to 5°, 10°, or 15° by tunnel vision simulation goggles. The number of errors, time to completion, and the performance score as an index of cancelling efficiency were calculated. Results showed that the time to completion and the performance score were significantly greater in the random array cancellation task than in the structured array cancellation task, and in the narrowest visual field condition (5°) than in other visual field conditions (10°, 15°, and full vision). These results suggest that the visual search efficiency was degraded when the visual field was restricted to be less than 5° in the orderly and random array cancellation tasks used for this study.