Investigating the effects of context, visual working memory, and inhibitory control in hybrid visual search

In real-life scenarios, individuals frequently engage in tasks that involve searching for one of the distinct items stored in memory. This combined process of visual search and memory search is known as hybrid search. To date, most hybrid search studies have been restricted to average observers look...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Frontiers in human neuroscience Vol. 18; p. 1436564
Main Authors:	Barbosa, Alessandra, Ruarte, Gonzalo, Ries, Anthony J, Kamienkowski, Juan E, Ison, Matias J
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 27-08-2024
Subjects:	Human Neuroscience individual differences inhibitory control memory search real-world scenes visual search visual working memory capacity visual working memory capacity visual search inhibitory control memory search individual differences real-world scenes
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	In real-life scenarios, individuals frequently engage in tasks that involve searching for one of the distinct items stored in memory. This combined process of visual search and memory search is known as hybrid search. To date, most hybrid search studies have been restricted to average observers looking for previously well-memorized targets in blank backgrounds. We investigated the effects of context and the role of memory in hybrid search by modifying the task's memorization phase to occur in all-new single trials. In addition, we aimed to assess how individual differences in visual working memory capacity and inhibitory control influence performance during hybrid search. In an online experiment, 110 participants searched for potential targets in images with and without context. A change detection and go/no-go task were also performed to measure working memory capacity and inhibitory control, respectively. We show that, in target present trials, the main hallmarks of hybrid search remain present, with a linear relationship between reaction time and visual set size and a logarithmic relationship between reaction time and memory set size. These behavioral results can be reproduced by using a simple drift-diffusion model. Finally, working memory capacity did not predict most search performance measures. Inhibitory control, when relationships were significant, could account for only a small portion of the variability in the data. This study provides insights into the effects of context and individual differences on search efficiency and termination.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Edited by: Stefan Pollmann, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany These authors have contributed equally to this work and share senior authorship These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship Reviewed by: Marian Sauter, University of Ulm, Germany Artyom Zinchenko, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
ISSN:	1662-5161 1662-5161
DOI:	10.3389/fnhum.2024.1436564