Real-world visual search is dominated by top-down guidance
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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior
Published on: April 16, 2014
1Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500, USA.
Abstract:
How do bottom-up and top-down guidance signals combine to guide search behavior? Observers searched for a target either with or without a preview (top-down manipulation) or a color singleton (bottom-up manipulation) among the display objects. With a preview, reaction times were faster and more initial eye movements were guided to the target; the singleton failed to attract initial saccades under these conditions. Only in the absence of a preview did subjects preferentially fixate the color singleton. We conclude that the search for realistic objects is guided primarily by top-down control. Implications for saliency map models of visual search are discussed.
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