Learning and Modulating Spatial Probabilities in Virtual Environments

Visual search behavior, in simple two-dimensional arrays, is sensitive to the spatial statistics of target distributions. When the target appears with greater likelihood in one-half of the array, participants become faster at locating it, in comparison to when targets are located on the other (low-probability) side. This phenomenon is known as probability cueing, and appears to operate below a level of conscious awareness (i.e., participants do not report awareness of the distribution when probed after the task). In contrast, studies that have employed large-scale search paradigms, in which full-body movements are required to inspect locations, report that probability cueing is more complex, requiring a combination of stable spatial cues and, when successful, appears to be explicit in nature.