Satisfaction-of-Search (SOS) impacts multiple-target searches during proofreading: Evidence from eye movements

Abstract

ABSTRACT In multiple-target visual searches, subsequent search misses (SSMs; [Cain, M. S., Adamo, S. H., & Mitroff, S. R. (2013). A taxonomy of errors in multiple-target visual search. Visual Cognition, 21(7), 899–921. https://doi.org/10.1080/13506285.2013.843627]) occur when the discovery of one target hinders detection of another target (formerly referred to as Satisfaction of Search [Tuddenham, W. J. (1962). Visual search, image organization, and reader error in roentgen diagnosis studies of the psychophysiology of Roentgen image perception memorial fund lecture. Radiology, 78(5), 694–704. https://doi.org/10.1148/78.5.694]). Here, we examined whether SSMs would occur during a proofreading task, and we contrasted the cognitive resource depletion theory and the Satisfaction of Search (SOS) accounts of SSMs. We monitored participants’ eye movements while proofreading for typographical errors (i.e., typos) in lists of words that were presented either in a straight horizontal line or in random locations. There was a significant SSM effect since detection of a first typo hindered the detection of a second typo. Furthermore, in support of the SOS account, the detection of a first typo expedited search, as shown by faster reaction times and reduced fixation durations and refixations on the second typo.