Target detection and discrimination in pop-out visual search with two targets

To successfully interact with objects in complex and crowded environments, we often perform visual search to detect or identify a relevant target (or targets) among distractors. Previous studies have reported a redundancy gain when two targets instead of one are presented in a simple target detection task. However, research is scant about the role of multiple targets in target discrimination tasks, especially in the context of visual search. Here, we address this question and investigate its underlying mechanisms in a pop-out search paradigm. In Experiment 1, we directly compared visual search performance for one or two targets for detection or discrimination tasks. We found that two targets led to a redundancy gain for detection, whereas it led to a redundancy cost for discrimination. To understand the basis for the redundancy cost observed in discrimination tasks for multiple targets, we further investigated the role of perceptual grouping (Experiment 2) and stimulus-response feature compatibility (Experiment 3). We determined that the strength of perceptual grouping among homogenous distractors was attenuated when two targets were present compared with one. We also found that response compatibility between two targets contributed more to the redundancy cost compared with perceptual compatibility. Taken together, our results show how pop-out search involving two targets is modulated by the level of feature processing, perceptual grouping, and compatibility of perceptual and response features.