Lateral masking for letters with unlimited viewing time

Linear arrays of 1, 8, and 9 letters were exposed while S read off the items of the letter sequence while maintaining constant fixation. By this procedure, serial position effects were studied in the absence of requirements for scanning the array quickly, as in a tachistoscopic display, and for remembering a large number of items, as in a delayed whole report. Despite the absence of these requirements, typical serial position curves were generated. Serial position effects were partially ameliorated by the introduction of blank spaces into the array. Performance was influenced both in the immediate vicinity of the blank spacings, as well as extending over a large portion of the array. The data were interpreted in terms of lateral masking effects associated with adjacent elements.

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