Global Precedence in Visual Search? Not So Fast: Evidence Instead for an Oblique Effect

The evidence from an earlier report of global precedence in visual search is reexamined. Two new experiments are reported. The results of the first experiment indicate that the confusability of oblique orientations (a class-2 oblique effect) rather than global precedence was responsible for the earlier results. The results of the second experiment show that the effect critically depends on the presence of heterogeneous distractors rather than on differences in raw processing speed for different spatial scales. The possible role of symmetry is discussed.