Factors Affecting the Choice of Strategy in Searching

In this investigation the choice of strategy in searching among a row of independent items is considered in relation to the subjects' expectations regarding the locus of the target, and the risk of forgetting during the search of which items have been examined. It was found that : (i) most subjects expected the target to lie near the middle of the row ; (ii) memory for tests varied according to strategy, the less systematic the search the more readily they were forgotten ; (iii) the choice of strategy did not always agree with a rational balancing of expectation and risk. A comparison between answers to a questionnaire and observed searching behaviour showed wide discrepancies ; subjects selected better strategies in the questionnaire than those they actually used.