Visual search time based on stochastic serial and parallel processings

Abstract

Two stochastic latency models were developed in order to account for random fluctuations of the search time that the S consumed when he was asked to search for a single target number or one of two (or three) target numbers through the sets of small two-digit numbers randomly distributed on a white square. It was shown that the search time distribution for a single target number can be adequately described in terms of McGill’s two-step serial processing model. The parallel processing model whose structure is exponential was found to fit approximately the search time distributions for the first target number that the S detects among the two (or three) target numbers predesignated. This model, however, does not satisfactorily handle the long search times.