In this experiment, you'll be performing a search task.

On each trial, you'll see something flash on the screen briefly. This will be the target of your search. Sometimes, the target will be an image; and sometimes, the target will be a word.

The target will then disappear, and then some other images or words will appear in random positions.

Your job: Determine whether the target is present or absent in that set as fast as you can.

In other words, you'll have to search the set to see if the target is there or not.

If the target is present in the set, press the S key on your keyboard; if it's absent in the set, press the D key on your keyboard.

Before we begin, we'll go over this more to be sure the instructions are clear.

Click the ENTER key on your keyboard to proceed!

Just to make sure the instructions are clear, we'll go through a simple example here.

Recall that your task is to find whether the target is present or absent.

Before the start of each trial, you'll be presented with the target briefly. This time, the target will be an image, and it will stay on screen the whole time just to make things easy.

Suppose this was the target:

On a real trial, this would appear and disappear quickly. After it disappears, you'd be presented with an array of things, and you'd try to search for this target. Your goal is to determine whether the target is present or absent in that set, as fast as you can.

Suppose this was the array:

In a real trial, you'd try and find the target (the blue triangle) to determine whether it's present or absent.

If the target is present in the set, press the S key on your keyboard; if it's absent in the set, press the D key on your keyboard.

Here, you'll have unlimited time; but in the real experiment, please try and search for the target as fast as you can!

Respond as if this was a real trial (i.e., respond saying whether the target is present or absent in the array). Once you respond correctly, a button will appear. Pressing that button will allow you to start the real experiment.