Figure 1.

Crowding demo. In the cluttered scene (left panel), Waldo is impossible to identify while fixing your eyes on the plus sign. Removing the clutter reveals Waldo. This is not an acuity problem; it is crowding. (For further discussion of the role of crowding in search, see Balas, Nakano, & Rosenholtz, 2009; Motter & Simoni, 2007; Rosenholtz, Huang, Raj, Balas, & Ilie, 2012). (Ski slope scene and Waldo images reproduced from Where's Waldo? The Phenomenal Postcard Book, by Martin Handford, illustration copyright © 1987, 1997, 2007, and Where's Waldo?, by Martin Handford, illustration copyright © 1987, 1997, by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA, on behalf of Walker Books London.)