Visual Search with Color.
Abstract
Several experiments were conducted to discover how rapidly people can find a particular target when they know the color of the target. More than 14,000 searches were conducted by 212 subjects. The subjects searched for a specific colored three-digit number among other colored three-digit numbers on a circular display screen which subtended about 14 degrees of visual angle. Three factors had a profound effect on search speed. Search time increased dramatically (and approximately linearly) as the number of display items of the target's color increased from one to the display density. Search time also increased when the number of display items of different colors from the target increased if the color of these items was sufficiently similar to that of the target. If the color of these background items was dissimilar to that of the target, then the background items had no effect on search time. A color difference calculation was shown to be moderately related to the apparent similarity of colors. An effect of patterned versus random placement of the target-color items was also demonstrated. There was no consistent effect on search time of target placement, the number of items adjoining the target, or practice of the search task. None of the individual difference variables studied (parafoveal acuity, foveal acuity, stereo acuity, reading speed, age, sex, recent drug or alcohol use, smoking habits, nor color vision) were significantly related to differences of search speed. The results were also cast in the form of a cumulative distribution function (CDF) of search time for each of 17 search conditions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA100351
Entities
People
- Robert Charles Carter Jr