Visual search without eye movement

Two experiments have been made on the problem of visual search using six patterns which were geometrically simple, and familiar to the subject.

In each case the subject's task was to say where, among the complex of patterns, a particular pattern (the “test object”) appeared when the exposure of the whole display was so brief as to prevent scanning by the eyes. He could be informed visually (in Experiment I) or verbally (in Experiment II) which pattern was to be regarded as the “test object.”

In both experiments it was found that foreknowledge of what was to be the test object gave a significantly higher standard of accuracy than knowledge given later. This suggests that something analogous to visual search can occur without eye movements.