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.