MILO Mobile: An iPad App to Measure Search Performance in Multi-Target Sequences

Thornton, Ian M.; Horowitz, Todd S.

doi:10.1177/2041669520932587

Cited by 8 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(76 reference statements)

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“…Such planning is most obvious at the start of a sequence, reflected in highly elevated first response times (Basoudan et al., 2019). However, using a shuffle manipulation, in which the identities of items ahead of the current target swapped positions, we were able to show planning effects influencing SRT patterns up to four items ahead (Thornton & Horowitz, 2004, 2020; see Kosovicheva et al., 2020 for related findings).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Recently, we introduced a mobile app version of the Multi-Item Localisation (MILO) task (Thornton & Horowitz, 2020). The MILO task probes the temporal constraints that influence target selection during search through multi-item sequences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We developed the MILO task as a computer-based research tool for exploring the temporal context of visual search (Horowitz & Thornton, 2008; Thornton & Horowitz, 2004). In addition to the iPad app version of the task used here (Thornton & Horowitz, 2020), there is also a cross-platform online version that can be previewed at https://maltacogsci.org/MILO/DEMO/. Both versions of the task, along with the source code, may be freely obtained by contacting the authors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is achieved by having participants complete multiple (e.g., 20), short (e.g., 8 item) trials using either randomly generated novel display layouts or fixed patterns, depending on the research question. The use of multiple trials makes it possible to establish within-participant estimates of the time taken to locate each subsequent item in a sequence, a measure we call serial reaction time (SRT; Horowitz & Thornton, 2008; Thornton & Horowitz, 2004, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These sequences mimic the intrinsic load manipulation of the TMT. Our motivation for studying interleaved sequences was to gain further understanding of the nature of inhibitory tagging during MILO Remain trials (Horowitz & Thornton, 2008; Thornton & Horowitz, 2004, 2020). In previous studies from our group, having participants perform a secondary task while completing MILO trials, such as listening for comprehension (Luffingham, 2013) or retaining a spatial layout in memory (Zammit, 2017), did not lead to any changes in Remain SRTs relative to Vanish trials.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Searching Through Alternating Sequences: Working Memory and Inhibitory Tagging Mechanisms Revealed Using the MILO Task

Thornton

Horowitz

2020

i-Perception

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We used the Multi-Item Localisation (MILO) task to examine search through two sequences. In Sequential blocks of trials, six letters and six digits were touched in order. In Mixed blocks, participants alternated between letters and digits. These conditions mimic the A and B variants of the Trail Making Test (TMT). In both block types, targets either vanished or remained visible after being touched. There were two key findings. First, in Mixed blocks, reaction times exhibited a saw-tooth pattern, suggesting search for successive pairs of targets. Second, reaction time patterns for vanish and remain conditions were identical in Sequential blocks—indicating that participants could ignore past targets—but diverged in Mixed blocks. This suggests a breakdown of inhibitory tagging. These findings may help explain the elevated completion times observed in TMT-B, relative to TMT-A.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Searching Through Alternating Sequences: Working Memory and Inhibitory Tagging Mechanisms Revealed Using the MILO Task

Thornton

Horowitz

2020

i-Perception

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Inhibitory control deficits in vascular cognitive impairment revealed using the MILO task

et al. 2021

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We used the MILO (Multi-Item Localization) task to characterise the performance of a group of older adults diagnosed with mild to moderate vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). The MILO task is designed to explore the temporal context of visual search and in addition to measuring overall completion time, provides a profile of serial reaction time (SRT) patterns across all items in a sequence. Of particular interest here is the Vanish/Remain MILO manipulation that can identify problems with inhibitory control during search. Typically, SRT functions closely overlap, regardless of whether items Vanish or Remain visible when selected, indicating an ability to ignore previously selected targets. Based on the distributed nature of VCI-related pathology and previous visual search studies from our group, we speculated that MILO performance would be compromised in this group of participants when items remained visible after being selected relative to when they vanished. Compared to cognitively healthy, age-matched control participants, the performance of VCI participants was characterised by overall slowing, increased error rates, and crucially, a compromised ability to ignore past locations. As predicted, the Vanish versus Remain SRT functions of VCI participants significantly diverged towards the end of the sequence, which was not the case for control groups. Overall, our findings suggest that the MILO task could be a useful tool for identifying non-age-related changes in behaviour with patient populations, and more generally hints at a possible inhibitory deficit in VCI.

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Foraging tempo: Human run patterns in multiple-target search are constrained by the rate of successive responses

Thornton

Nguyen

Kristjánsson

2020

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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Human foraging tasks are beginning to provide new insights into the roles of vision, attention and working memory during complex, multiple-target search. Here, we test the idea that “foraging tempo” — the rate of successive target selections — helps determine patterns of behaviour in these tasks. Previously, we established that the majority of target selections during unconstrained foraging happen at regular, rapid intervals, forming the “cruise phase” of a foraging trial. Furthermore, we noted that when the temporal interval between cruise phase responses was longer, the tendency to switch between target categories increased. To directly explore this relationship, we modified our standard iPad foraging task so that observers had to synchronize each response with an auditory metronome signal. Across trials, we increased the tempo and examined how this changed patterns of foraging when targets were defined either by a single feature or by a conjunction of features. The results were very clear. Increasing tempo systematically decreased the tendency for participants to switch between target categories. While this was true for both feature and conjunction trials, there was also evidence that time constraints and target complexity interacted. As in our previous work, we also observed clear individual differences in how participants responded to changes in task difficulty. Overall, our results show that foraging tempo does influence the way participants respond, and we suggest this parameter may prove be useful in further explorations of group and individual strategies during multiple target search.

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MILO Mobile: An iPad App to Measure Search Performance in Multi-Target Sequences

Cited by 8 publications

References 47 publications

Searching Through Alternating Sequences: Working Memory and Inhibitory Tagging Mechanisms Revealed Using the MILO Task

Searching Through Alternating Sequences: Working Memory and Inhibitory Tagging Mechanisms Revealed Using the MILO Task

Inhibitory control deficits in vascular cognitive impairment revealed using the MILO task

Foraging tempo: Human run patterns in multiple-target search are constrained by the rate of successive responses

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