Two forms of scene memory guide visual search: Memory for scene context and memory for the binding of target object to scene location

Abstract

The role of scene memory in visual search was investigated in a preview-search task. Participants saw a preview of a real-world scene prior to searching through that scene for a target object. Compared with a no preview baseline, search was facilitated following a preview scene that did not contain the ultimate target object, indicating that memory for the general context and layout of a scene exemplar facilitates later search. In addition, search was more efficient when the preview scene contained the ultimate target object than when it did not, demonstrating that memory for the specific binding of objects to locations facilitates later search. Both forms of memory were explicitly available for participant report.

Keywords:

• Visual search
• Visual memory
• Scene memory
• Eye movements
• Attention

Acknowledgements

The present research was supported by NIH grants R03MH65456 and R01EY017356. Parts of this study were reported at the Munich Visual Search Symposium, Munich, Germany, 2003, and the fourth annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, Sarasota, Florida, 2004.

Notes

¹An equivalent pattern of results was observed for the number of fixations on the scene prior to target fixation.