What is it about?
We all engage in environmental search on a daily basis, whether it is because a lost set of keys eludes us somewhere in the home or we are seeking a particular breakfast cereal in the supermarket. The factors that underlie successful and efficient real-world search are not fully clear to psychologists, nor are the individual differences that explain why some searchers are more effective than others. Thus far, these behaviors have primarily been explored in two-dimensional monitor-based search tasks, which are often considered a controlled model for larger-scale foraging behaviors. Real-world search behavior is, however, far more complex than moving your eyes through a computer display. Across three experiments, we explored how people organized their search in response to statistical regularities within the search environments, how landmarks helped to guide more efficient search, the relationship between awareness of statistical regularities and search behavior, and why individuals differed in their search strategies. We demonstrate this while illustrating the effectiveness of reproducible, fully immersive virtual experiments, alongside the application of innovative methods of path analysis to better understand participant search decisions.
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Why is it important?
Efficient search underpins everyday activities. Our research demonstrates that environmental landmarks can help guide efficient search behavior, but their effectiveness is dependent on their location and relationship with the environment. Moreover, these findings help to clarify why previous studies examining search behavior have produced equivocal and sometimes conflicting explanations. We also show that people differ in how well they learn and use probabilistic cues, with spatial working memory playing an important role. By using fully immersive virtual reality, this research combines experimental control with realistic behavior in a way that is rarely possible in real-world settings. Together, these findings link search behavior to broader processes such as attention, spatial memory, and awareness. Overall, this work improves our understanding of how people search their environments and helps explain how search and foraging behaviors are connected.
Perspectives
Writing this article provided valuable opportunity to collaborate with colleagues whose work I greatly respect, while also paving the way for future collaborative research. This article has already prompted the planning of several new projects designed to address open questions arising from these findings.
Shaun Dordoy
University of Plymouth
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Probability cueing in large-scale environmental search: The role of landmark cues in statistical learning., Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition, January 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001573.
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