Abstract
Physical discriminability between stimuli implication on visual search tasks. The purpose of this study is to analyze if the mechanisms involved in visual search are similar to the ones used on memory search or, on the contrary, visual search is affected by different factors. It has been stated (Flach, 1986; Krueger, 1984; Pashler, 1987) that visual search is facilitated by physical discriminability and not by categorical differentiation between targets and distractors. In order to contribute evidence from other perspective, we approach this topic in a different way than the autores that have worked on this subject (Ingling, 1972; Staller y Lappin, 1979; White, 1977). We do not control physical differences between targets and distractors in the search among different categorías, but we use two types of stimulation -familiar and unfamiliar- that we consider they use these discriminability levels in the search. The results confirm that physical discriminability is the determinant factor in visual search. Only when stimulation is unfamiliar, differences between search with high and low discriminability are observed.
