The nesting of search contexts within natural scenes: evidence from contextual cuing

J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2010 Dec;36(6):1406-18. doi: 10.1037/a0019257.

Abstract

In a contextual cuing paradigm, we examined how memory for the spatial structure of a natural scene guides visual search. Participants searched through arrays of objects that were embedded within depictions of real-world scenes. If a repeated search array was associated with a single scene during study, then array repetition produced significant contextual cuing. However, expression of that learning was dependent on instantiating the original scene in which the learning occurred: Contextual cuing was disrupted when the repeated array was transferred to a different scene. Such scene-specific learning was not absolute, however. Under conditions of high scene variability, repeated search array were learned independently of the scene background. These data suggest that when a consistent environmental structure is available, spatial representations supporting visual search are organized hierarchically, with memory for functional subregions of an environment nested within a representation of the larger scene.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Association Learning*
  • Color Perception
  • Cues*
  • Depth Perception
  • Discrimination Learning
  • Female
  • Field Dependence-Independence*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory, Short-Term*
  • Orientation*
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual*
  • Reaction Time
  • Space Perception*
  • Transfer, Psychology
  • Young Adult