Visual search strategies are indexed by event-related lateralizations of the EEG.

Full Abstract

Two processes have been proposed for picking out information from a visual scene. A parallel process that detects salient features and a following serial process for higher order vision. However, this separation is still under dispute. The current study investigated whether event-related lateralizations (ERLs) of the electroencephalogram are a useful tool to examine these two processes. In a visual search for a colour- or form singleton or a conjunction target, reaction time (RT), P3 amplitudes and ERLs served as dependent variables. RT replicated earlier results for colour and conjunction targets. P3 amplitudes decreased and ERL latencies increased for these conditions. However, form singletons showed RT-, P3- and ERL-results comparable to conjunction targets. ERL-results differed in some conditions from RTs. The results suggest that target attributes alone cannot dissociate between different search strategies but showed that efficient as well as less efficient processes can be utilised for the same targets proposing that processing demands are determined by the inter-relation of target and the distractors.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Wolber, Maren (M); Wascher, Edmund (E);

Affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Psychological Research, Cognitive Psychophysiology of Action, Amalienstrasse 33, 80799 Munich, Germany. wolber@mpipf-muenchen.mpg.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Biological psychology (Biol Psychol), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Apr; vol 63 (issue 1) : pp 79-100

Dates: Created 2003/04/22; Completed 2003/10/03; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12706965, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.

See 100+ related articles.

See a large map of 100+ related articles.