Decision-Supported Visual Search: Effects of Direct and Indirect Cues on Performance and Attentional Mechanisms

Objective To investigate how different types of automated cues (direct versus indirect) of a decision support system (DSS) affect performance and attentional mechanisms in visual search. Background Visual search tasks in safety- and health-critical domains are increasingly supported by DSS. While such systems commonly provide explicit cues, these cues differ in whether they directly indicate target locations or merely signal target presence. Empirical evidence comparing these cue types, particularly at the level of attentional processes, remains limited. Method Participants completed a simulated medical visual search task in which they searched for target letters embedded in noise. Using a within-subjects design, participants performed the task under three conditions: no DSS support, indirect cueing, and direct cueing. Human-alone performance exceeded system-alone performance. Performance was assessed using signal detection measures, and response times and eyetracking were used to examine attentional guidance and search termination. Results Direct cueing increased sensitivity relative to indirect cueing and no support. Response times and eyetracking measures showed that direct cues guided attention more efficiently and reduced search effort, whereas indirect cues produced attentional patterns descriptively similar to the no-cue condition. Conclusion Direct cues enhanced sensitivity and attentional efficiency in visual search, whereas indirect cues provided little benefit over unaided search when human performance exceeded system performance. Application The results highlight cue format as a critical design factor for DSS in applied visual search, suggesting that location-specific cues are particularly effective when DSS complement rather than outperform human observers.