Visual search is constrained by the variability of object-category templates

Real-world visual search is often performed at the category level: we search for shoes or bags without knowing their exact features in advance. This requires categorical search templates that accommodate the inherent variability within the target category. Here, we examine how the variability in search templates across categories constrains visual search performance. We quantify template variability by measuring variability in object drawings from a large online dataset (Experiment 1) and from a controlled lab-based drawing task (Experiment 2) and in turn relate this variability to performance in categorical search. Across both experiments, higher category variability, and thus broader search templates, were associated with slower responses. Moreover, the observer’s most prioritized object template predicted their search performance better than other observers’ templates, indicating that individual differences in template variability shape visual search. Together, our findings demonstrate that naturalistic visual search is governed by structured variability across both object categories and observers.