Effects of cued-set spatial arrangement and target-background similarity in the partial-report paradigm

In previous studies of selective attention using the Sperling partial-report paradigm, the selection criterion has been confounded with the spatial arrangement of the cued items, and target-background similarity has varied concommitantly. In this partial-report experiment, subjects are directed to report the identities of five red letters embedded in a 5 × 5 matrix. With selection criterion thus held constant, the arrangement of the cued items and the nature of the background material are varied. Both arrangement and background effects are highly significant, as is the interaction between them. Some constraints on models of visual selective attention are discussed.

[1]  William K. Estes,et al.  Reaction time in relation to display size and correctness of response in forced-choice visual signal detection , 1966 .

[2]  William K. Estes,et al.  Further evidence concerning scanning and sampling assumptions of visual detection models , 1968 .

[3]  D J Mewhort,et al.  Familiarity of letter sequences, response uncertainty, and the tachistoscopic recognition experiment. , 1967, Canadian journal of psychology.

[4]  Michael C. Corballis,et al.  On the perception of symmetrical and repeated patterns , 1974 .

[5]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Rate of information processing in visual perception: some results and methodological considerations. , 1969, Journal of experimental psychology.

[6]  S. Sternberg.  High-Speed Scanning in Human Memory , 1966, Science.

[7]  D. Jameson,et al.  Mach bands : quantitative studies on neural networks in the retina , 1966 .

[8]  G. T. Gardner.  Spatial Processing Characteristics in the Perception of Brief Visual Arrays , 1970 .

[9]  F. Attneave.  Some informational aspects of visual perception. , 1954, Psychological review.

[10]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Temporal and spatial characteristics of selective encoding from visual displays , 1972 .

[11]  R. A. Kinchla,et al.  Detecting target elements in multielement arrays: A confusability model , 1974 .

[12]  A. Treisman,et al.  Selective Attention: Perception or Response? , 1967, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[13]  S. E. Clark,et al.  Retrieval of color information from preperceptual memory. , 1969, Journal of experimental psychology.

[14]  V. Coltheart,et al.  On Rumelhart's model of visual information-processing. , 1972, Canadian journal of psychology.

[15]  W. Heron,et al.  Perception as a function of retinal locus and attention. , 1957, The American journal of psychology.

[16]  David E. Rumelhart,et al.  A multicomponent theory of the perception of briefly exposed visual displays , 1970 .

[17]  W. R. Garner.  Uncertainty and structure as psychological concepts , 1975 .

[18]  Michael T. Turvey,et al.  Retrieval from iconic memory with shape as the selection criterion , 1970 .

[19]  David E. Clement.  Uncertainty and latency of verbal naming responses as correlates of pattern goodness , 1964 .

[20]  D. E. Clement,et al.  Pattern uncertainty and the discrimination of visual patterns , 1967 .

[21]  W. R. Garner,et al.  The structure of visual pattern associates and pattern goodness , 1966 .

[22]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Independence in the perception of simultaneously presented forms at brief durations. , 1967, Journal of experimental psychology.

[23]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Temporal course of selective attention. , 1969, Journal of experimental psychology.

[24]  R. Shiffrin,et al.  Visual processing capacity and attentional control. , 1972, Journal of experimental psychology.

[25]  William K. Estes,et al.  Interactions of signal and background variables in visual processing , 1972 .

[26]  J. Deutsch,et al.  Attention: Some theoretical considerations. , 1963 .

[27]  William P. Banks,et al.  Visual detection accuracy and target-noise proximity , 1974 .

[28]  Richard C. Atkinson,et al.  Human Memory: A Proposed System and its Control Processes , 1968, Psychology of Learning and Motivation.

[29]  William K. Estes,et al.  Redundancy of noise elements and signals in visual detection of letters , 1974 .

[30]  B. Julesz.  Foundations of Cyclopean Perception , 1971 .

[31]  G. T. Gardner.  Evidence for independent parallel channels in tachistoscopic perception , 1973 .

[32]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task , 1974 .

[33]  Charles Curtis Eriksen,et al.  The extent of processing of noise elements during selective encoding from visual displays , 1973 .

[34]  George Sperling,et al.  The information available in brief visual presentations. , 1960 .

[35]  U. Neisser.  Decision-time without reaction-time: Experiments in visual scanning. , 1963 .