Proximity and Direction of Arrangement in Numeric Displays

Review of two earlier studies which compared vertical and horizontal arrangements of alphanumeric materials indicated doubt as to whether horizontal arrangements yielded superior performance. One study indicated no differences between horizontal and vertical arrangements, while a later study indicated that certain ways of arranging typewritten numbers resulted in superiority for horizontal groups. The present study used a visual comparison of numeric materials to examine the factors of proximity and direction of arrangement, and attempts to reconcile the differences in earlier experiments.