Visual Search Task
Description
A two-phase visual search paradigm where participants locate target characters among distractors in arrays of varying sizes, with targets defined by character identity and/or color.
About This Test
Participants view the target character, then search for it in an array of letters. When they locate the target or determine it's absent, they click the mouse. The letters are then replaced by circles, and participants click on the circle at the target's location or click 'NONE' if absent. The task manipulates search set size (10/20/30 items), number of targets present (0/1/5), target characters (O/X), and target colors (white/green).
Test Details
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Scientific Background
PEBL-Specific References:
These studies used the PEBL version of this task.
- Mueller, S. T. (2010). A partial implementation of the BICA cognitive decathlon using the Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL). International Journal of Machine Consciousness, 2(02), 273-288.
- Mueller, S. T. (2011). The PEBL Visual Search Task. Computer software retrieved from http://pebl.sf.net.
Data Output
Creates two data files: (1) vsearch-<subnum>.csv with trial-by-trial data including search times, selection times, and accuracy; (2) summary-<subnum>.txt with condition-level means grouped by target character, color, presence, and set size.
Example Data
example-data.csv Primary
Trial-by-trial data with search and selection times
| sub | trial | time | numtargs | size | targchar | targcol | stim | resp | corr | rt1 | rt2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| example | 1 | 58778 | 0 | 20 | O | white | GCUDQCDUQGDGCQUQCUGD | 0 | 1 | 2268 | 945 |
| example | 2 | 62813 | 5 | 10 | X | green | XXXXXDQUGC | 1 | 1 | 718 | 870 |
| example | 3 | 65209 | 1 | 10 | O | green | OQGDUCUDCG | 1 | 1 | 690 | 1019 |
| example | 4 | 67727 | 1 | 20 | X | white | XUDGQCUCDQGDUCQGDQCU | 1 | 1 | 633 | 666 |
| example | 5 | 69851 | 5 | 10 | O | white | OOOOOQGCDU | 3 | 1 | 1118 | 1039 |
| example | 6 | 72818 | 5 | 30 | O | green | OOOOOGCUDQGCDUQDCUGQDGCUQDUCQG | 2 | 1 | 753 | 976 |
| example | 7 | 75407 | 5 | 30 | O | white | OOOOOGUCDQDCGUQUQGDCGDUQCUCQGD | 5 | 1 | 1013 | 1025 |
| example | 8 | 78359 | 0 | 10 | O | green | GQDCUCDQUG | 0 | 1 | 541 | 1455 |
| example | 9 | 81164 | 5 | 20 | X | green | XXXXXDCUQGQDCUGCUDQG | 5 | 1 | 625 | 1300 |
example-data-summary.txt Summary
Condition-level summary statistics showing mean RT1 (search time) and accuracy for each combination of target character (O/X), target color (white/green), number present (0/1/5), and set size (10/20/30)
| ---------------------------------------------- |
|---|
| Target color X present size Mean(RT) Mean(acc) |
| ---------------------------------------------- |
| O green 1294 0 30 1294 1 |
| O green 1827 5 10 1827 1 |
| O green 455 0 20 455 1 |
| O green 531 1 20 531 1 |
| O green 538 1 30 538 1 |
| O green 541 0 10 541 1 |
| O green 682 5 20 682 1 |
Sample data showing typical output format. Actual values will vary by participant.
About This Test
A two-phase visual search paradigm where participants locate target characters among distractors in arrays of varying sizes, with targets defined by character identity and/or color.
Category: Attention
Estimated Duration: 15 minutes
Available Translations: 8 languages
Documentation Sources:
Test description file, Test implementation, Parameter schema
Documentation Status: Complete