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POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TARGETS IN VISUAL SEARCH
Author(s) -
BROWN ROBERT,
CHICK GEOFFREY
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1970.tb02808.x
Subject(s) - psychology , task (project management) , row , cognitive psychology , visual search , computer science , management , database , economics
Subjects searched through letter‐arrays to find either the one row which contained a critical letter (positive target) or the one row which did not contain that letter (negative target). Search times for negative targets were significantly longer than for positive targets, a finding similar to one by Neisser (1963). Neisser's explanation of this difference was tested by separating total search time into time required for processing target and non‐target rows, and was found not to be fully satisfactory. Both of these time components were found to be greater for the negative task, while on Neisser's hypothesis the reverse should have been found for target processing time. A revised explanation is proposed which takes into account the relatively greater complexity of the ‘target’ as defined in the negative task.