Study on Visual Search Behavior Comparing Mixed and Blocked Task Conditions with Participant Choice

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are investigating how people perform visual search tasks when the same search is repeated many times in a row compared to when different search tasks are mixed together. The study focuses on four different search tasks where the target remains the same, but the distracting items vary. The goal is to understand if the findings from traditional blocked search experiments apply to more varied real-world searches. Participants are healthy adults with normal color vision. Participants take part in one of five conditions that differ by how search tasks are presented and chosen. Some allow participants to choose the task each trial or for a block of trials, while others assign tasks randomly or in fixed blocks without choice. In all conditions, target and distractor items appear on a computer screen arranged in a randomized 5x5 grid. Trials vary by the number of items and whether the target is present or absent. Participants respond by pressing keys to indicate if the target is present. During the study, participants complete up to 50 trials per task with feedback after each trial. Researchers measure response times and accuracy over about one year. Participants undergo a color vision test and must have good corrected vision. The study is conducted without masking or blinding and is sponsored by Brigham and Womens Hospital. This research aims to better understand visual search behavior in varied conditions more like real-life situations.

Experiment 3: Mixed vs Blocked; Dashboard Paradigm