Abstract

When a visual search target frequently appears in one target-rich region of space, participants learn to search there first, resulting in faster reaction time when the target appears there than when it appears elsewhere. Most research on this location probability learning (LPL) effect uses 2-dimensional (2D) search environments that are distinct from real-world search contexts, and the few studies on LPL in 3-dimensional (3D) contexts include complex visual cues or foraging tasks and therefore may not tap into the same habit-like learning mechanism as 2D LPL. The present study aimed to establish a baseline evaluation of LPL in controlled 3D search environments using virtual reality. The use of a virtual 3D search environment allowed us to compare LPL for information within a participant’s initial field of view to LPL for information behind participants, outside of the initial field of view. Participants searched for a letter T on the ground among letter Ls in a large virtual space that was devoid of complex visual cues or landmarks. The T appeared in one target-rich quadrant of the floor space on half of the trials during the training phase. The target-rich quadrant appeared in front of half of the participants and behind the other half. LPL was considerably greater in the former condition than in the latter. This reveals an important constraint on LPL in real-world environments and indicates that consistent search patterns and consistent egocentric spatial coding are essential for this form of visual statistical learning in 3D environments.

Highlights

  • Visual search in real-world environments is a complex task that requires efficient shifts of attention, recognition of complex visual stimuli, and frequent reorienting as one turns to search all regions of the 3-dimensional (3D) space

  • The current study investigates the role of selection history in visual search in 3D environments using virtual reality

  • Doubling the sample size by combining these two studies still did not yield significant location probability learning in participants with a rich quadrant behind them. In this large-scale 3D search environment devoid of complex visual cues, participants did show evidence of LPL, but only when the target-rich quadrant was in front of them, relative to their starting position

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Summary

Introduction

Visual search in real-world environments is a complex task that requires efficient shifts of attention, recognition of complex visual stimuli, and frequent reorienting as one turns to search all regions of the 3-dimensional (3D) space. Previous research has identified several mechanisms that support visual search, including search history (Awh et al 2012). The vast majority of research on selection history effects far lack one key component of real-world search environments: their 3D nature, which results in the need for search both in front of and behind one’s initial field of view.. The mechanisms by which selection history guides search in 3D navigable environments, where search involves turning one’s body and reorienting, rather than just oculomotor movements, remain unclear. The current study investigates the role of selection history in visual search in 3D environments using virtual reality

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