Information processing in visual search: A continuous flow conception and experimental results

This paper reexamines the visual search process, and visual information processing more generally, from a perspective of the continuous flow of information and responses through the visual system. The results from three experiments are reported which support the continuous flow conception: Information accumulates gradually in the visual system, with concurrent priming of responses. The first two experiments investigated the processing of display stimuli which varied in size and figure-ground contrast in a nonsearch task, and provided evidence confirming a continuous flow model. Experiment 3 employed an asynchronous onset of target and noise and provided convergent evidence of the accumulative nature of information and response priming in visual processing.

[1]  Charles W. Eriksen,et al.  The effect of flanking letters and digits on speed of identifying a letter , 1973 .

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

[3]  C. Eriksen,et al.  An experimental analysis of subception. , 1956, The American journal of psychology.

[4]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Selective encoding from multielement visual displays , 1973 .

[5]  D. Kahneman,et al.  Critical duration for the resolution of form: centrally or peripherally determined? , 1967, Journal of experimental psychology.

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

[7]  Wayne A. Wickelgren,et al.  Speed-accuracy tradeoff and information processing dynamics , 1977 .

[8]  Robert Nullmeyer,et al.  Application of variable criterion theory to choice reaction time , 1977 .

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

[10]  Bo Strangert,et al.  Spatial interaction effects in letter processing , 1975 .

[11]  Bryden Mp,et al.  Tachistoscopic recognition of non-alphabetical material. , 1960 .

[12]  D L Hintzman,et al.  "Stroop" effect: input or output phenomenon? , 1972, Journal of experimental psychology.

[13]  Charles W. Eriksen,et al.  Retinal locus and acuity in visual information processing , 1977 .

[14]  L A Lefton,et al.  Information extraction from different retinal locations. , 1974, Journal of experimental psychology.

[15]  R W Proctor,et al.  Sources of color-word interference in the Stroop color-naming task , 1978, Perception & psychophysics.

[16]  Stephen J. Boies,et al.  Components of attention. , 1971 .

[17]  William Prinzmetal,et al.  Good continuation affects visual detection , 1977 .

[18]  W. Neill,et al.  Decision processes in selective attention: Response priming in the Stroop color-word task , 1978, Perception & psychophysics.

[19]  George Wolford,et al.  Retinal location and string position as important variables in visual information processing , 1974 .

[20]  James T. Townsend,et al.  Lateral masking for letters with unlimited viewing time , 1971 .

[21]  J. Lappin,et al.  The latency operating characteristic. II. Effects of visual stimulus intensity on choice reaction time. , 1972, Journal of experimental psychology.

[22]  Gideon Keren,et al.  Levels of noise processing and attentional control. , 1977 .

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

[24]  Peter Shaw,et al.  Effects of bars and blanks on recognition of words and nonwords embedded in a row of letters , 1973 .

[25]  Charles W. Eriksen,et al.  Stimulus size and acuity in information processing , 1978 .

[26]  C W Eriksen,et al.  Binocular summation over time in the perception of form at brief durations. , 1968, Journal of experimental psychology.

[27]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Prediction from and interaction among multiple concurrent discriminative responses. , 1957, Journal of experimental psychology.

[28]  Elizabeth L Bjork,et al.  On the nature of input channels in visual processing. , 1977, Psychological review.

[29]  F N Dyer,et al.  The Stroop phenomenon and its use in the stlldy of perceptual, cognitive, and response processes , 1973, Memory & cognition.

[30]  Charles W. Eriksen,et al.  Internal perceptual system noise and redundancy in simultaneous inputs in form identification , 1965 .

[31]  Daniel G Bobrow,et al.  On data-limited and resource-limited processes , 1975, Cognitive Psychology.

[32]  J. V. von Wright.  Selection in visual immediate memory. , 1968, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[33]  S. Sternberg.  Memory-scanning: mental processes revealed by reaction-time experiments. , 1969, American scientist.

[34]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Visual masking in multielement displays. , 1970, Journal of experimental psychology.

[35]  H. Egeth,et al.  Failure of spatial selectivity in vision , 1978 .

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

[37]  Wilson S. Geisler,et al.  Visual recognition in a theory of information processing. , 1973 .

[38]  Robert G Pachella,et al.  The Interpretation of Reaction Time in Information-Processing Research 1 , 1973, Human Information Processing.

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

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

[41]  Mewhort Dj.  Accuracy and order of report in tachistoscopic identification. , 1974 .

[42]  M C FLOM,et al.  VISUAL RESOLUTION AND CONTOUR INTERACTION. , 1963, Journal of the Optical Society of America.

[43]  Charles W. Eriksen,et al.  Selective attention and serial processing in briefly presented visual displays , 1971 .

[44]  M. Turvey.  On peripheral and central processes in vision: inferences from an information-processing analysis of masking with patterned stimuli. , 1973, Psychological review.

[45]  William Prinzmetal,et al.  Configurational effects in visual information processing , 1976 .

[46]  D. Kahneman,et al.  THE TIME-INTENSITY RELATION IN VISUAL PERCEPTION AS A FUNCTION OF OBSERVER'S TASK. , 1964, Journal of experimental psychology.

[47]  Donald Bamber,et al.  Reaction times and error rates for judging nominal identity of letter strings , 1972 .

[48]  D J Mewhort.  Accuracy and order of report in tachistoscopic identification. , 1974, Canadian journal of psychology.

[49]  W. Estes,et al.  Serial position functions for letter identification at brief and extended exposure durations , 1976 .

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

[51]  D. Kahneman.  Attention and Effort , 1973 .

[52]  J. Lappin,et al.  The latency operating characteristic. I. Effects of stimulus probability on choice reaction time. , 1972, Journal of experimental psychology.

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

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

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

[56]  C W Eriksen,et al.  Independence of successive inputs and uncorrelated error in visual form perception. , 1966, Journal of experimental psychology.

[57]  F Smith,et al.  Temporal factors in visual information processing. , 1966, Canadian journal of psychology.

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

[59]  R. Pew.  The speed-accuracy operating characteristic , 1969 .