Visual search
Type of perceptual task requiring attention / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Visual search?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Visual search is a type of perceptual task requiring attention that typically involves an active scan of the visual environment for a particular object or feature (the target) among other objects or features (the distractors).[1] Visual search can take place with or without eye movements. The ability to consciously locate an object or target amongst a complex array of stimuli has been extensively studied over the past 40 years. Practical examples of using visual search can be seen in everyday life, such as when one is picking out a product on a supermarket shelf, when animals are searching for food among piles of leaves, when trying to find a friend in a large crowd of people, or simply when playing visual search games such as Where's Wally?
Much previous literature on visual search used reaction time in order to measure the time it takes to detect the target amongst its distractors. An example of this could be a green square (the target) amongst a set of red circles (the distractors). However, reaction time measurements do not always distinguish between the role of attention and other factors: a long reaction time might be the result of difficulty directing attention to the target, or slowed decision-making processes or slowed motor responses after attention is already directed to the target and the target has already been detected. Many visual search paradigms have therefore used eye movement as a means to measure the degree of attention given to stimuli.[2][3] However, eyes can move independently of attention, and therefore eye movement measures do not completely capture the role of attention.[4][5]