Researchers found that a specific order of words helps people find hard-to-find objects in an image faster. Directions starting with a landmark and ending with the object of interest work better compared to directions in reverse order.
The study is led by Alasdair Clarke from the University of Aberdeen's School of Psychology. Using a popular children's book called "Where's Wally," the study participants are asked to focus on the human figure Wally within the cluttered cartoon images.
Using their own words, the participants were asked to give instructions on how to locate Wally. The participants used landmarks such as buildings and animals to describe where Wally can be found.
Researchers noted that visually strong landmarks were mentioned first in the directions. Visually weak landmarks were mentioned towards the end. However, if Wally stood out as the strongest visual marker, the participants mentioned him first in the order of words.
The next experiment focused on the specific word order. The team found that a landmark-target word order is the most efficient. Participants who were given this specific word order found Wally faster compared to people given a reverse order direction.
When giving directions, researchers found that people keep a mental note of the visually strong images in the picture, such as landmarks. These virtual markers are given special attention when giving out directions. As a result, listeners can spot the object of interest faster.
"Listeners start processing the directions before they're finished, so it's good to give them a head start by pointing them towards something they can find quickly, such as a landmark," said co-author and associate professor Micha Elsner from the Ohio State University's Department of Linguistics. Elsner added if the target is easier to spot than the landmark, people should start their word order with the target.
The study's long-term goal is to produce a direction-giving computer capable of detecting targets in the scene easily. The device could also select visually strong landmarks that would assist human listeners, added Clarke.
The findings could be useful in the field of human-computer communication and artificial intelligence.
The study was published in the Frontiers of Psychology journal posted on Dec. 9.
