THE ROLE OF A COLOUR AS A BASIC DIMENSION IN VISUAL SEARCH

The data revealed from visual searching paradigm shows that search for simple targets is automatic and parallel, whereas search for conjunctive targets is attentive and serial. The present study aimed at investigation whether color makes conjunctive search more efficient than it is predicted on a basis of serial models of conjunctive search. In a visual search task subjects (N = 50) searched for targets defined by one, two, three or four features. Target-nontarget similarity was controlled and set size was varied. Simple objects were defined by shape, whereas color and a set of features differentiating shapes defined complex objects. Regardless of the number of features defining objects, conjunctive targets were searched for more quickly than objects defined by single feature. Thus, the search for conjunctive objects was conducted much more effectively than it would be predicted on a basis of serial models of visual search.