Different visual search strategies in stationary and moving radial patterns

This study compared visual search strategies in patterns of radially moving dots (simulating self-motion) to those used in matched stationary displays (radial patterns of lines). To control for differences in target visibility, 75% detection thresholds for deviating motion direction and line orientation, respectively, were determined as a function of eccentricity in Experiment 1. These individual thresholds were used to study saccadic parameters in Experiment 2, when subjects searched for targets in the stationary and moving patterns. Despite similarities in search performance, visual search in moving radial patterns was characterised by fewer saccades, longer initial fixation times, and shorter saccadic amplitudes after the initial saccade than during search in a matched stationary radial pattern. These results suggest that detection performance alone cannot explain saccadic search behaviour, and that different search strategies may be used in moving compared to stable environments.