VISUAL-SEARCH PERFORMANCE WITH COMPLETE AND INCOMPLETE VISUAL LOBE AREAS

A simulation study of the effects of visual lobe shape and search stra tegy on search performance is reported. Using a homogeneous pattern se arch task that did not dictate eye fixation movements (as in reading), three basic categories of strategy and two lobe shapes were tested. R andom strategies with controlled overlap of lobe areas, representing v arious degrees of memory, were found to produce better performance (fa ster search times with equal or better detection rates) than either a completely random strategy or systematic strategies with various degre es of controlled visual lobe area overlap. The controlled overlap rand om strategies were far better able to compensate for non-optimum inter fixation distances and distortion of visual lobe shape than systematic strategies.