Implicit Relational Learning in a Multiple-Object Tracking Task

Abstract

We used multiple-object tracking task to examine whether contextual information presented in a background can facilitate tracking accuracy. College students were instructed to track either two or four out of eight objects and report at the end of the trial whether a single cued object was among those they tracked (yes/no task). The display also contained two strips of different width. In Informative condition, the location of the cued object after the tracking predicted the correct choice. If the answer was "yes,” then the object was located next to the narrower of the two strips (or, it was located next to the wider strip depending on the counterbalancing). In Random condition, the location of the cued object did not predict the correct choice. We expected participants in Random condition to be more accurate when tracking two objects than when tracking four objects, a common result in multiple- object tracking research. If the participants in Informative condition also tracked the objects, then we should see a similar pattern of results. Additionally, if the participants utilize the information about object location, then they should be more accurate in Informative condition than in Random condition. Preliminary results will be presented.