Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA. dlee@cvs.rochester.edu
Whether searching for targets in a familiar scene leads to improved performance was tested in monkeys. We found that search performance improved for a familiar scene when target locations were always randomized. However, when target locations repeatedly followed a predictable sequence, performance improvement for a familiar scene was manifested only for targets presented in a familiar sequence, suggesting that scene memory might be masked by the learning of target sequences. These results suggest that information about a visual scene can facilitate the performance of visual search, and that this memory is coupled to the learned sequence of target locations.