Target-rate effect in continuous visual search

Abstract

From infrared body temperature surveillance to lifeguarding, real-life visual search is usually continuous and comes with rare targets. Previous research has examined realistic search tasks involving separate slides (such as baggage screening and radiography), but search tasks that require continuous monitoring have generally received less attention. In this study, we investigated whether continuous visual search would display a target-rate effect similar to the low-prevalence effect (LPE) in regular visual search. We designed a continuous detection task for a target feature (e.g., a green color) among items of continuously and gradually changing features (e.g., other colors). In four experiments, we demonstrated target-rate effects in terms of slower hit response times (RTs) and higher miss rates when targets were rare. Similar to regular search, target-rate effects were also observed for relative frequencies across two target features. Taken together, these results suggest a target-rate effect in continuous visual search, and its behavioral characteristics are generally similar to those of the LPE in regular visual search.