Finding Waldo: Two Routes for Processing Visual Search in Complex Scenic Images

Abstract

This paper reviews the cognitive mechanisms underlying visual search in complex visual images. Visual search is a type of task that we are constantly engaged in our everyday lives. Here, the current paper introduces the current literature that suggests that there are two different processing routes that support visual search in human observers: Bottom-up and Top-down processing. Bottom-up processing allows the visual system to process the sensory information from the visual image as it is, whereas top-down processing guides the visual system to efficiently allocate attention to a part of the image to facilitate the search process. The two processing routes via bottom-up and topdown processing work in concert during complex visual search, guiding our search behavior to be more efficient and adaptive. In closing remark, this review also briefly discusses how the current knowledge about the roles of bottom-up and top-down processing in visual search can contribute to development of computer vision and artificial intelligent. ABSTRACT AJSRE: https://escipub.com/american-journal-of-scientific-research-and-essays/ 1 Andrew Hwang, AJSRE, 2019; 4:24 AJSRE: https://escipub.com/american-journal-of-scientific-research-and-essays/ 2