Identifying and reducing satisfaction of search errors: How to alleviate dual-target search costs

Mitroff, Stephen R; Clark, Kait; Cain, Matthew S

Abstract

Some occupations (e.g., airport luggage screeners, military personnel, radiologists) require highly accurate visual searches. To maximize performance it is important to identify factors that decrease accuracy and then identify means to alleviate their detrimental effects. One negative factor on search accuracy is Satisfaction of Search (SOS) – when the successful detection of a search target reduces the detectability of a second target present in the same array. Our prior work (Fleck, Samei, & Mitroff, 2010) suggests that SOS arises when searchers have an expectation about the likelihood of a given target type being present and when they are under pressure to perform quickly. We introduce new evidence that SOS errors are eliminated when ambiguity between potential targets and distractors is removed and are modulated by expectations about target prevalence. We provide a clearer picture of the pressures that engender SOS by examining those factors which both provoke and alleviate the effect.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Psychonomic Society
• Start Date: Nov 1, 2010
• End Date: Nov 1, 2010
• Acceptance Date: Aug 1, 2010
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2010
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/973721
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Psychonomic Society