David A. Tomshe¹, Melissa R. Beck¹; ¹Louisiana State University

Previous investigations of contextual cueing using complex stimuli revealed limited performance benefits despite strong explicit memory for repeated displays. In the current study, we increased the number of repetitions and modified the task from a simple identification task to a more complex orientation judgment, aligning our approach more closely with traditional contextual cueing paradigms. Participants completed a visual search task across 24 blocks, with half of the displays repeated and half non-repeated in each block. Results revealed a robust contextual cueing effect, with significantly faster response times for repeated displays compared to non-repeated displays. This effect emerged early and persisted throughout the experiment. Nonlinear model analyses of eye movements uncovered two mechanisms contributing to this performance benefit: (1) attentional guidance, where repeated contexts facilitated more efficient deployment of attention towards the target location, evidenced by shorter time to the first fixations on the target area, and (2) response facilitation, characterized by reduced time between the first fixation on the target and the subsequent response in repeated displays. These findings suggest that the nature of the visual search task can play a role in facilitating or impeding the contextual cueing effect. Importantly, the current study demonstrates that complex stimuli can produce robust contextual cueing effects. Future research should leverage eye-tracking methodologies to further elucidate the underlying mechanisms of search efficiency in repeated complex stimuli, focusing on the temporal dynamics of attentional deployment and refinement of search strategies over time.