Low Target Prevalence Is a Stubborn Source of Errors in Visual Search Tasks

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

Volumn 136, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 623-638

  Wolfe, Jeremy M ^a,b   Horowitz, Todd S ^a,b   Van Wert, Michael J ^a   Kenner, Naomi M ^a   Place, Skyler S ^a   Kibbi, Nour ^a  

^a BRIGHAM AND WOMEN S HOSPITAL   (United States)

^b HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL   (United States)

Author keywords

airport security; attention; low prevalence; signal detection; visual search

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; ATTENTION; FEMALE; HUMAN; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; PERCEPTIVE DISCRIMINATION; PREVALENCE; PSYCHOLOGY; REACTION TIME; RECOGNITION; STATISTICS; VISION;

ADULT; ATTENTION; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; PREVALENCE; PSYCHOLOGY; REACTION TIME; RECOGNITION (PSYCHOLOGY); SECURITY MEASURES; SIGNAL DETECTION (PSYCHOLOGY); VISUAL PERCEPTION;

EID: 36249013170     PISSN: 00963445     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/0096-3445.136.4.623     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. Baldassi S., and Verghese P. Comparing integration rules in visual search. Journal of Vision 2 (2002) 559-570
2. Beck L.H., Bransome Jr. E.D., Mirsky A.F., Rosvold H.E., and Sarason I. A continuous performance test of brain damage. Journal of Consulting Psychology 20 (1956) 343-350
3. Berbaum K.S., Franken Jr. E.A., Dorfman D.D., Caldwell R.T., and Krupinski E.A. Role of faulty decision making in the satisfaction of search effect in chest radiography. Academic Radiology 7 (2000) 1098-1106
4. Berbaum K.S., Franken Jr. E.A., Dorfman D.D., Rooholamini S.A., Kathol M.H., Barloon T.J., et al. Satisfaction of search in diagnostic radiology. Investigative Radiology 25 (1990) 133-140
5. Bond A.B., and Kamil A.C. Visual predators select for crypticity and polymorphism in virtual prey. Nature 415 (2002, February 7) 609-613
6. Brainard D.H. The Psychophysics Toolbox. Spatial Vision 10 (1997) 443-446
7. Broadbent D.E. Vigilance. British Medical Bulletin 20 (1964) 17-20
8. Broadbent D.E., and Gregory M. Effects of noise and of signal rate upon vigilance analysed by means of decision theory. Human Factors 7 (1965) 155-162
9. Chun M.M., and Wolfe J.M. Just say no: How are visual searches terminated when there is no target present?. Cognitive Psychology 30 (1996) 39-78
10. Colquhoun W.P. The effect of "unwanted" signals on performance in a vigilance task. Ergonomics 4 (1961) 41-51
11. Cousineau D., and Shiffrin R.M. Termination of a visual search with large display size effects. Spatial Vision 17 (2004) 327-352
12. Davis E., Kramer P., and Graham N. Uncertainty about spatial frequency, spatial position, or contrast of visual patterns. Perception & Psychophysics 33 (1983) 20-28
13. Dinges D.F., Gillen K.A., Powell J.W., Carlin M., Ott G.E., Orne E.C., et al. Discriminating sleepiness by fatigability on a psychomotor vigilance task. Sleep Research 23 (1994) 129
14. Egglin T.K., and Feinstein A.R. Context bias: A problem in diagnostic radiology. JAMA 276 (1996) 1752-1755
15. Ethell S.C., and Manning D. Effects of prevalence on visual search and decision making in fracture detection. In: Krupinski E.A., and Chakraborty D.P. (Eds). Medical Imaging 2001: Image perception and performance (2001), SPIE, Bellingham, WA 249-257
16. Fleck, M., & Mitroff, S. (in press). Rare targets rarely missed in correctable search. Psychological Science
17. Green D.M., and Swets J.A. Signal detection theory and psychophysics (1967), Wiley, New York
18. Gur D., Rockette H.E., Armfield D.R., Blachar A., Bogan J.K., Brancatelli G., et al. Prevalence effect in a laboratory environment. Radiology 228 (2003) 10-14
19. Gur D., Sumkin J.H., Rockette H.E., Ganott M., Hakim C., Hardesty L., et al. Changes in breast cancer detection and mammography recall rates after the introduction of a computer-aided detection system. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 96 (2004) 185-190
20. Healy A.F., and Kubory M. Probability matching and the formation of conservative decision rules in a numerical analog of signal detection. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 7 (1981) 344-354
21. Hong S.-K. Human stopping strategies in multiple-target search. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 35 (2005) 1-12
22. Hsieh P.C., Chu C.L., Yang Y.K., Yang Y.C., Yeh T.L., Lee I.H., et al. Norms of performance of sustained attention among a community sample: Continuous performance test study. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 59 (2005) 170-176
23. Kribbs N.B., and Dinges D.F. Vigilance decrement and sleepiness. In: Ogilvie R.D., and Harsh J.R. (Eds). Sleep onset: Normal and abnormal processes (1994), American Psychological Association, Washington, DC 113-125
24. Kundel H.L. Disease prevalence and the index of detectability: A survey of studies of lung cancer detection by chest radiography. In: Krupinski E.A. (Ed). Medical imaging 2000: Image perception and performance (2000), SPIE, Bellingham, WA 135-144
25. Li, H., Li, F., Gao, H. H., Chen, A., & Lin, C. (2006). Appropriate responding can reduce miss errors in visual search. Unpublished manuscript.
26. Mackworth J. Vigilance and attention: A signal detection approach (1970), Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, England
27. Macmillan N.A., and Creelman C.D. Detection theory (2005), Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ
28. Maddox W.T. Toward a unified theory of decision criterion learning in perceptual categorization. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 78 (2002) 567-595
29. Nodine C.F., Krupinski E.A., Kundel H.L., Toto L., and Herman G.T. Satisfaction of search (SOS). Investigative Radiology 27 (1992) 571-573
30. Olendorf R., Rodd F.H., Punzalan D., Houde A.E., Hurt C., Reznick D.N., et al. Frequency-dependent survival in natural guppy populations. Nature 441 (2006, June 1) 633-636
31. Palmer J. Attention in visual search: Distinguishing four causes of a set size effect. Current Directions in Psychological Science 4 (1995) 118-123
32. Palmer J., Verghese P., and Pavel M. The psychophysics of visual search. Vision Research 40 (2000) 1227-1268
33. Parasuraman R. Vigilance, monitoring, and search. In: Boff K.R., Kaufmann L., and Thomas J.P. (Eds). Handbook of human perception and performance: Vol. 2. Cognitive processes and performance (1986), Wiley, New York 1-39
34. Pisano E.D., Gatsonis C., Hendrick E., Yaffe M., Baum J.K., Acharyya S., et al. Diagnostic performance of digital versus film mammography for breast-cancer screening. New England Journal of Medicine 353 (2005) 1773-1783
35. Rich, A. N., Hidalgo-Sotelo, B., Kunar, M. A., Van Wert, M. J., & Wolfe, J. M. (2006, May). What happens during search for rare targets? Eye movements in low prevalence visual search. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, Sarasota, FL.
36. Rubenstein J. Test and evaluation plan: X-Ray Image Screener Selection Test (No. DOT/FAA/AR-01/47) (2001), Office of Aviation Research, Washington, DC
37. Samuel S., Kundel H.L., Nodine C.F., and Toto L.C. Mechanism of satisfaction of search: Eye position recordings in the reading of chest radiographs. Radiology 194 (1995) 895-902
38. Smith J.D., Redford J.S., Gent L.C., and Washburn D.A. Visual search and the collapse of categorization. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 134 (2005) 443-460
39. Smith J.D., Redford J.S., Washburn D.A., and Taglialatela L.A. Specific-token effects in screening tasks: Possible implications for aviation security. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 31 (2005) 1171-1185
40. Smith P.A., and Turnbull L.S. Small cell and "pale" dyskaryosis. Cytopathology 8 (1997) 3-8
41. Thornton T.L., and Gilden D.L. Parallel and serial processes in visual search. Psychological Review 114 (2007) 71-103
42. Treisman M. A theory of criterion setting: An alternative to the attention band and response ratio hypotheses in magnitude estimation and cross-modality matching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 113 (1984) 443-463
43. Warm J.S. Vigilance and target detection. In: Huey B.M., and Wicken C.D. (Eds). Workload transition: Implications for individual and team performance (1993), National Academy Press, Washington, DC 139-170
44. Wolfe J.M., Horowitz T.S., and Kenner N.M. Rare items often missed in visual searches. Nature 435 (2005, May 26) 439-440
45. Zenger B., and Fahle M. Missed targets are more frequent than false alarms: A model for error rates in visual search. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 23 (1997) 1783-1791