Target features and target-distractor relation are both primed in visual search.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Visual perception
• Human visual search

Background:

• Intertrial priming enhances visual search when features repeat between trials.
• Prior research suggests priming relies on repeating target-distractor relations, not absolute feature values.

Purpose of the Study:

• To replicate and extend findings on intertrial priming in visual search.
• To investigate whether priming is driven by feature relations or absolute values.
• To reconcile findings with existing visual search models.

Main Methods:

• Replication of prior findings across size, color, and luminance dimensions.
• Controlled experiments varying feature repetition and target-distractor relations.
• Analysis of search performance under blocked and mixed trial conditions.

Main Results:

• Confirmed that repeating target-distractor relations speeds up visual search.
• Demonstrated that repeating absolute feature values provides an additional priming benefit.
• Showed effects are independent of feature magnitude and search strategies.

Conclusions:

• Both relational and absolute feature priming contribute to intertrial benefits in visual search.
• Existing visual search models can account for these findings with assumptions about feature channels.
• Priming of relations suggests cardinal feature channels; priming of values suggests distributed channels.