One factor to bind them all: visual foraging organization to predict patch leaving behavior with ROC curves

Abstract Predicting quitting rules is critical in visual search: Did I search enough for a cancer nodule in a breast X-ray or a threat in a baggage airport scanner? This study examines the predictive power of search organization indexes like best-r, mean ITD, PAO, or intersection rates as optimal cr...

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Main Authors: Marcos Bella-Fernández, Manuel Suero Suñé, Alicia Ferrer-Mendieta, Beatriz Gil-Gómez de Liaño
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-04-01
Series:Cognitive Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-025-00624-7
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author Marcos Bella-Fernández
Manuel Suero Suñé
Alicia Ferrer-Mendieta
Beatriz Gil-Gómez de Liaño
author_facet Marcos Bella-Fernández
Manuel Suero Suñé
Alicia Ferrer-Mendieta
Beatriz Gil-Gómez de Liaño
author_sort Marcos Bella-Fernández
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Predicting quitting rules is critical in visual search: Did I search enough for a cancer nodule in a breast X-ray or a threat in a baggage airport scanner? This study examines the predictive power of search organization indexes like best-r, mean ITD, PAO, or intersection rates as optimal criteria to leave a search in foraging (looking for several targets among distractors). In a sample of 29 adults, we compared static and dynamic foraging. Also, we reanalyze data from diverse foraging tasks in the lifespan already published to replicate results. Using ROC curves, all results consistently show that organization measures outperform classic intake rates commonly used in animal models to predict optimal human quitting behavior. Importantly, a combination of organization and traditional intake rates within a unitary factor is the best predictor. Our findings open a new research line for studying optimal decisions in visual search tasks based on search organization.
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issn 2365-7464
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
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record_format Article
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spelling doaj-art-9a2694edb6374ea694724257036352e52025-08-20T02:25:36ZengSpringerOpenCognitive Research2365-74642025-04-0110112210.1186/s41235-025-00624-7One factor to bind them all: visual foraging organization to predict patch leaving behavior with ROC curvesMarcos Bella-Fernández0Manuel Suero Suñé1Alicia Ferrer-Mendieta2Beatriz Gil-Gómez de Liaño3Universidad Autónoma de MadridUniversidad Autónoma de MadridUniversidad Autónoma de MadridUniversidad Autónoma de MadridAbstract Predicting quitting rules is critical in visual search: Did I search enough for a cancer nodule in a breast X-ray or a threat in a baggage airport scanner? This study examines the predictive power of search organization indexes like best-r, mean ITD, PAO, or intersection rates as optimal criteria to leave a search in foraging (looking for several targets among distractors). In a sample of 29 adults, we compared static and dynamic foraging. Also, we reanalyze data from diverse foraging tasks in the lifespan already published to replicate results. Using ROC curves, all results consistently show that organization measures outperform classic intake rates commonly used in animal models to predict optimal human quitting behavior. Importantly, a combination of organization and traditional intake rates within a unitary factor is the best predictor. Our findings open a new research line for studying optimal decisions in visual search tasks based on search organization.https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-025-00624-7Visual foragingOptimal foraging theoryOrganizationROC curvesComposite variables
spellingShingle Marcos Bella-Fernández
Manuel Suero Suñé
Alicia Ferrer-Mendieta
Beatriz Gil-Gómez de Liaño
One factor to bind them all: visual foraging organization to predict patch leaving behavior with ROC curves
Cognitive Research
Visual foraging
Optimal foraging theory
Organization
ROC curves
Composite variables
title One factor to bind them all: visual foraging organization to predict patch leaving behavior with ROC curves
title_full One factor to bind them all: visual foraging organization to predict patch leaving behavior with ROC curves
title_fullStr One factor to bind them all: visual foraging organization to predict patch leaving behavior with ROC curves
title_full_unstemmed One factor to bind them all: visual foraging organization to predict patch leaving behavior with ROC curves
title_short One factor to bind them all: visual foraging organization to predict patch leaving behavior with ROC curves
title_sort one factor to bind them all visual foraging organization to predict patch leaving behavior with roc curves
topic Visual foraging
Optimal foraging theory
Organization
ROC curves
Composite variables
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-025-00624-7
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