Endogenous & exogenous sources of variability

The Army Research Laboratory Research Associateship Program (ARL-RAP) opportunity focuses on understanding how naturalistic search behavior is guided by the relative influence of task specific demands and features of the environment. This research opportunity addresses critical gaps in understanding concerning the interactive role of visual salience (bottom-up), task goals (top-down), and arousal (internal state) on target detection during overt visual search. Successful candidates will be involved in all aspects of scientific process from experimental design, data acquisition and analysis, and presentation and publication of results. This project leverages behavioral, eye tracking, and electophysiological methods to systematically investigate visual perception using both constrained and real-world tasks, leading to an enhanced understanding of visual search in everyday environments. The ARL-RAP is designed to significantly increase the involvement of creative and highly trained scientists and engineers from academia and industry in scientific and technical areas of interest and relevance to the Army.