Contextual Cuing Of Visual Search Research Articles

Environmental regularities mitigate attentional misguidance in contextual cueing of visual search.

Visual search is faster when a fixed target location is paired with a spatially invariant (vs. randomly changing) distractor configuration, thus indicating that repeated contexts are learned, thereby guiding attention to the target (contextual cueing [CC]). Evidence for memory-guided attention has also been revealed with electrophysiological (electroencephalographic [EEG]) recordings, starting with an enhanced early posterior negativity (N1pc), which signals a preattentive bias toward the target, and, subsequently, attentional and postselective components, such as the posterior contralateral negativity (PCN) and contralateral delay activity (CDA), respectively. Despite effective learning, relearning of previously acquired contexts is inflexible: The CC benefits disappear when the target is relocated to a new position within an otherwise invariant context and corresponding EEG correlates are diminished. The present study tested whether global statistical properties that induce predictions going beyond the immediate invariant layout can facilitate contextual relearning. Global statistical regularities were implemented by presenting repeated and nonrepeated displays in separate streaks (mini blocks) of trials in the relocation phase, with individual displays being presented in a fixed and thus predictable order. Our results revealed a significant CC effect (and an associated modulation of the N1pc, PCN, and CDA components) during initial learning. Critically, the global statistical regularities in the relocation phase also resulted in a reliable CC effect, thus revealing effective relearning with predictive streaks. Moreover, this relearning was reflected in an enhanced PCN amplitude for repeated relative to nonrepeated contexts. Temporally ordered contexts may thus adapt memory-based guidance of attention, particularly the allocation of covert attention in the visual display. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining the role of depth information in contextual cuing using a virtual reality visual search task.

Two experiments examined the role that depth plays in the formation of associations during contextual cuing of visual search. Current associative models make predictions about the spatial constraints placed on learning within two-dimensional procedures, but there exists very little evidence of how these predictions translate to three-dimensional space. A virtual reality procedure was used to project the stimuli in three dimensions. Experiment 1 established a contextual cuing effect using this procedure, while Experiment 2 examined whether the relative distance between repeated distractors and the target or the position of the distractors relative to the observer modulated contextual cuing. It was found that the contextual cuing effect was consistent across these different conditions. As a result, there was no evidence to suggest that depth information forms a significant part of the representations that form during contextual cuing. These data are therefore broadly consistent with the mechanisms of current associative models of contextual cuing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Contextual cuing of visual search does not guide attention automatically in the presence of top-down goals.

Visual search is faster when it occurs within repeated displays, a phenomenon known as contextual cuing (CC). CC has been explained as the result of an automatic orientation of attention toward a target item driven by learned distractor-target associations. In 3 experiments we tested the specific hypothesis that CC is an automatic process of attentional guidance. Participants first searched for a T target in a standard CC procedure. Then, they experienced the same repeated configurations (with the T still present), but now searched for a Y target that was positioned either in a location on the same, or on a different side, from the old T target. Results suggested that there was no interference caused by the old T-target: target search was not affected by the relative positions of the T and Y. Instead, we found a general facilitation in search times for repeated configurations (Experiments 1 and 2). This main effect disappeared when the need for visual search was eliminated in Experiment 3 using a "feature search task". These results suggest that repeated sets of distractors did not trigger an uncontrollable response toward the position of the T; instead, CC was produced by perceptual learning processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Raising awareness about measurement error in research on unconscious mental processes.

Experimental psychologists often neglect the poor psychometric properties of the dependent measures collected in their studies. In particular, a low reliability of measures can have dramatic consequences for the interpretation of key findings in some of the most popular experimental paradigms, especially when strong inferences are drawn from the absence of statistically significant correlations. In research on unconscious cognition, for instance, it is commonly argued that the lack of a correlation between task performance and measures of awareness or explicit recollection of the target stimuli provides strong support for the conclusion that the cognitive processes underlying performance must be unconscious. Using contextual cuing of visual search as a case study, we show that given the low reliability of the dependent measures collected in these studies, it is usually impossible to draw any firm conclusion about the unconscious character of this effect from correlational analyses. Furthermore, both a psychometric meta-analysis of the available evidence and a cognitive-modeling approach suggest that, in fact, we should expect to see very low correlations between performance and awareness at the empirical level, even if both constructs are perfectly related at the latent level. Convincing evidence for the unconscious character of contextual cuing and other effects will most likely demand richer and larger data sets, coupled with more powerful analytic approaches.

Supplemental Material for Contextual Cuing of Visual Search Does Not Guide Attention Automatically in the Presence of Top-Down Goals

Supplemental Material for Contextual Cuing of Visual Search Does Not Guide Attention Automatically in the Presence of Top-Down Goals

There is more to contextual cuing than meets the eye: Improving visual search without attentional guidance toward predictable target locations.

It is usually easier to find objects in a visual scene as we gain familiarity with it. Two decades of research on contextual cuing of visual search show that repeated exposure to a search display can facilitate the detection of targets that appear at predictable locations in that display. Typical accounts for this effect attribute an essential role to learned associations between the target and other stimuli in the search display. These associations improve visual search either by driving attention toward the usual location of the target or by facilitating its recognition. Contrary to this view, we show that a robust contextual cuing effect can also be observed when repeated search displays do not allow the location of the target to be predicted. These results suggest that, in addition to the mechanisms already explored by previous research, participants learn to ignore the locations usually occupied by distractors, which in turn facilitates the detection of targets even when they appear in unpredictable locations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Task-based memory systems in contextual-cueing of visual search and explicit recognition

Visual search is facilitated when observers encounter targets in repeated display arrangements. This ‘contextual-cueing’ (CC) effect is attributed to incidental learning of spatial distractor-target relations. Prior work has typically used only one recognition measure (administered after the search task) to establish whether CC is based on implicit or explicit memory of repeated displays, with the outcome depending on the diagnostic accuracy of the test. The present study compared two explicit memory tests to tackle this issue: yes/no recognition of a given search display as repeated versus generation of the quadrant in which the target (which was replaced by a distractor) had been located during the search task, thus closely matching the processes involved in performing the search. While repeated displays elicited a CC effect in the search task, both tests revealed above-chance knowledge of repeated displays, though explicit-memory accuracy and its correlation with contextual facilitation in the search task were more pronounced for the generation task. These findings argue in favor of a one-system, explicit-memory account of CC. Further, they demonstrate the superiority of the generation task for revealing the explicitness of CC, likely because both the search and the memory task involve overlapping processes (in line with ‘transfer-appropriate processing’).

Recognition of incidentally learned visual search arrays is supported by fixational eye movements.

Repeated encounter of abstract target-distractor letter arrangements leads to improved visual search for such displays. This contextual-cueing effect is attributed to incidental learning of display configurations. Whether observers can consciously access the memory underlying the cueing effect is still a controversial issue. The current study uses a novel recognition task and eyetracking to tackle this question. Experiment 1 investigated observers' ability to recognize or "generate" the display quadrant of the target in a previous search array when the target was now substituted by distractor element as well as where observers' eye fixations would fall while they freely viewed the recognition display, examining the link between the fixation pattern and explicit recognition judgments. Experiment 2 tested whether eye fixations would serve a critical role for explicit retrieval from context memory. Experiment 3 asked whether eye fixations of the target region are critical for context-based facilitation of search reaction times to manifest. The results revealed longer fixational dwell times in the target quadrant for learned relative to foil displays. Further, explicit recognition was enhanced, and above chance level, when observers were made to fixate the target quadrant as compared to when they were prevented from doing so. However, the manifestation of contextual cueing of visual search did itself not require fixations of the target quadrant. Moreover, contextual-cueing of search reaction times was significantly correlated with both fixational dwell times and observers' explicit generation performance. The results argue in favor of contextual cueing of visual search being the result of a single, explicit, memory system, though it could nevertheless receive support from separable-automatic versus controlled-retrieval processes. Fixational eye movements, that is, the directed overt allocation of visual attention, provide an interface between these processes in context cueing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Not scene learning, but attentional processing is superior in team sport athletes and action video game players.

We tested if high-level athletes or action video game players have superior context learning skills. Incidental context learning was tested in a spatial contextual cueing paradigm. We found comparable contextual cueing of visual search in repeated displays in high-level amateur handball players, dedicated action video game players and normal controls. In contrast, both handball players and action video game players showed faster search than controls, measured as search time per display item, independent of display repetition. Thus, our data do not indicate superior context learning skills in athletes or action video game players. Rather, both groups showed more efficient visual search in abstract displays that were not related to sport-specific situations.

Overt attention in contextual cuing of visual search is driven by the attentional set, but not by the predictiveness of distractors.

Two experiments examined biases in selective attention during contextual cuing of visual search. When participants were instructed to search for a target of a particular color, overt attention (as measured by the location of fixations) was biased strongly toward distractors presented in that same color. However, when participants searched for targets that could be presented in 1 of 2 possible colors, overt attention was not biased between the different distractors, regardless of whether these distractors predicted the location of the target (repeating) or did not (randomly arranged). These data suggest that selective attention in visual search is guided only by the demands of the target detection task (the attentional set) and not by the predictive validity of the distractor elements. (PsycINFO Database Record

Contextual cueing of visual search is associated with greater subjective experience of the search display configuration.

Visual search is facilitated when display configurations are repeated over time, showing that memory of spatio-configural context can cue the location of the target. The present study investigates whether memory of the search target in relation to the configuration of distractors alters subjective experience of the visual search target and/or the subjective experience of the display configuration. Observers performed a masked localization task for targets embedded in repeated vs. non-repeated (baseline) arrays of distractors items. After the localization response, observers reported their subjective experience of either the target or the display configuration. Bayesian analysis revealed that repeated displays resulted in a stronger visual experience of both targets and display configurations. However, subsequent analysis showed that repeated search displays increased the correlation between the experience of the display configuration and localization accuracy, but there was no such effect on experience of the target stimulus. We suggest that memory of visual context enhances the representation of the current visual search display. This representation improves visual search and at the same time increases observers’ subjective experience of the display configuration.

Testing the controllability of contextual cuing of visual search

Locating a target among distractors improves when the configuration of distractors consistently cues the target’s location across search trials, an effect called contextual cuing of visual search (CC). The important issue of whether CC is automatic has previously been studied by asking whether it can occur implicitly (outside awareness). Here we ask the novel question: is CC of visual search controllable? In 3 experiments participants were exposed to a standard CC procedure during Phase 1. In Phase 2, they localized a new target, embedded in configurations (including the previous target) repeated from Phase 1. Despite robust contextual cuing, congruency effects – which would imply the orientation of attention towards the old target in repeated configurations – were found in none of the experiments. The results suggest that top-down control can be exerted over contextually-guided visual search.

From Foreground to Background: How Task-Neutral Context Influences Contextual Cueing of Visual Search.

Selective attention determines the effectiveness of implicit contextual learning (e.g., Jiang and Leung, 2005). Visual foreground-background segmentation, on the other hand, is a key process in the guidance of attention (Wolfe, 2003). In the present study, we examined the impact of foreground-background segmentation on contextual cueing of visual search in three experiments. A visual search display, consisting of distractor ‘L’s and a target ‘T’, was overlaid on a task-neutral cuboid on the same depth plane (Experiment 1), on stereoscopically separated depth planes (Experiment 2), or spread over the entire display on the same depth plane (Experiment 3). Half of the search displays contained repeated target-distractor arrangements, whereas the other half was always newly generated. The task-neutral cuboid was constant during an initial training session, but was either rotated by 90° or entirely removed in the subsequent test sessions. We found that the gains resulting from repeated presentation of display arrangements during training (i.e., contextual-cueing effects) were diminished when the cuboid was changed or removed in Experiment 1, but remained intact in Experiments 2 and 3 when the cuboid was placed in a different depth plane, or when the items were randomly spread over the whole display but not on the edges of the cuboid. These findings suggest that foreground-background segmentation occurs prior to contextual learning, and only objects/arrangements that are grouped as foreground are learned over the course of repeated visual search.

Configural learning in contextual cuing of visual search.

Two experiments were conducted to explore the role of configural representations in contextual cuing of visual search. Repeating patterns of distractors (contexts) were trained incidentally as predictive of the target location. Training participants with repeating contexts of consistent configurations led to stronger contextual cuing than when participants were trained with contexts of inconsistent configurations. Computational simulations with an elemental associative learning model of contextual cuing demonstrated that purely elemental representations could not account for the results. However, a configural model of associative learning was able to simulate the ordinal pattern of data. (PsycINFO Database Record

Pre-exposure of repeated search configurations facilitates subsequent contextual cuing of visual search.

Contextual cuing is the enhancement of visual search when the configuration of distractors has been experienced previously. It has been suggested that contextual cuing relies on associative learning between the distractor locations and the target position. Four experiments examined the effect of pre-exposing configurations of consistent distractors on subsequent contextual cuing. The findings demonstrate a facilitation of subsequent cuing for pre-exposed configurations compared to novel configurations that have not been pre-exposed. This facilitation suggests that learning of repeated visual search patterns involves acquisition of not just distractor-target associations but also associations between distractors within the search context, an effect that is not captured by the Brady and Chun (2007) connectionist model of contextual cuing. We propose a new connectionist model of contextual cuing that learns associations between repeated distractor stimuli, enabling it to predict an effect of pre-exposure on contextual cuing.

Prediction of higher visual function in macular degeneration with multifocal electroretinogram and multifocal visual evoked potential

Visual search can be guided by past experience of regularities in our visual environment. This search guidance by contextual memory cues is impaired by foveal vision loss. Here we compared retinal and cortical visually evoked responses in their predictive value for contextual cueing impairment and visual acuity. Multifocal electroretinograms to flash stimulation (mfERGs; 103 locations; 55.8° diameter) and visual evoked potentials to pattern-reversal stimulation (mfVEPs; 60 locations; 48.6° diameter) were recorded monocularly in participants with age-related macular degeneration (n=14 and 16, respectively). Response magnitudes were calculated as the respective signal-to-noise ratios for each eccentricity. Visual acuities (logMAR, range: 0.0-1.2) and contextual cueing effects on visual search (reaction time gain, range: -0.14-0.15) were correlated with the signal-to-noise ratios. A step-wise regression analysis was applied separately to the mfERG- and mfVEP-dataset to determine the eccentricity range and the processing stage that is critical for these visual functions. Central mfERGs (1.0-3.2°) were the sole predictor of contextual cueing of visual search (p=0.006), but they were not significant predictors of visual acuity. In contrast, central mfVEPs (1.3-3.2°) were the sole predictor of visual acuity (p<0.001), but they were not significant predictors of contextual cueing. Contextual cueing is more dependent on parafoveal mfERG magnitude while visual acuity is more dependent on parafoveal mfVEP magnitude. The relation of contextual cueing to parafoveal mfERG magnitudes indicates the predictive value of retinal bipolar cell activity for this advanced level of visual function.

Memory under pressure: Secondary-task effects on contextual cueing of visual search

Repeated display configurations improve visual search. Recently, the question has arisen whether this contextual cueing effect (Chun & Jiang, 1998) is itself mediated by attention, both in terms of selectivity and processing resources deployed. While it is accepted that selective attention modulates contextual cueing (Jiang & Leung, 2005), there is an ongoing debate whether the cueing effect is affected by a secondary working memory (WM) task, specifically at which stage WM influences the cueing effect: the acquisition of configural associations (e.g., Travis, Mattingley, & Dux, 2013) versus the expression of learned associations (e.g., Manginelli, Langer, Klose, & Pollmann, 2013). The present study re-investigated this issue. Observers performed a visual search in combination with a spatial WM task. The latter was applied on either early or late search trials--so as to examine whether WM load hampers the acquisition of or retrieval from contextual memory. Additionally, the WM and search tasks were performed either temporally in parallel or in succession--so as to permit the effects of spatial WM load to be dissociated from those of executive load. The secondary WM task was found to affect cueing in late, but not early, experimental trials--though only when the search and WM tasks were performed in parallel. This pattern suggests that contextual cueing involves a spatial WM resource, with spatial WM providing a workspace linking the current search array with configural long-term memory; as a result, occupying this workspace by a secondary WM task hampers the expression of learned configural associations.

Awareness in contextual cueing of visual search as measured with concurrent access- and phenomenal-consciousness tasks

In visual search, context information can serve as a cue to guide attention to the target location. When observers repeatedly encounter displays with identical target-distractor arrangements, reaction times (RTs) are faster for repeated relative to nonrepeated displays, the latter containing novel configurations. This effect has been termed "contextual cueing." The present study asked whether information about the target location in repeated displays is "explicit" (or "conscious") in nature. To examine this issue, observers performed a test session (after an initial training phase in which RTs to repeated and nonrepeated displays were measured) in which the search stimuli were presented briefly and terminated by visual masks; following this, observers had to make a target localization response (with accuracy as the dependent measure) and indicate their visual experience and confidence associated with the localization response. The data were examined at the level of individual displays, i.e., in terms of whether or not a repeated display actually produced contextual cueing. The results were that (a) contextual cueing was driven by only a very small number of about four actually learned configurations; (b) localization accuracy was increased for learned relative to nonrepeated displays; and (c) both consciousness measures were enhanced for learned compared to nonrepeated displays. It is concluded that contextual cueing is driven by only a few repeated displays and the ability to locate the target in these displays is associated with increased visual experience.

Investigating cue competition in contextual cuing of visual search.

A fundamental principle of learning is that predictive cues or signals compete with each other to gain control over behavior. Associative and propositional reasoning theories of learning provide radically different accounts of cue competition. Propositional accounts predict that under conditions that do not afford or warrant the use of higher order reasoning processes, cue competition should not be observed. We tested this prediction in 2 contextual cuing experiments, using a visual search task in which patterns of distractor elements predict the location of a target object. Blocking designs were used in which 2 sets of predictive distractors were trained in compound, with 1 set trained independently. There was no evidence of cue competition in either experiment. In fact, in Experiment 2, we found evidence for augmentation of learning. The findings are contrasted with the predictions of an error-driven associative model of contextual cuing (Brady & Chun, 2007).