Abstract
Visual detection was studied in relation to displays of discrete elements, randomly selected consonant letters, distributed in random subsets of cells of a matrix, the S being required on each trial to indicate only which member of a predesignated pair of critical elements was present in a given display. Experimental variables were number of elements per display and number of redundant critical elements per display. Estimates of the number of elements effectively processed by a S during a 50 ms. exposure increased with display size, but not in the manner that would be expected if the S sampled a fixed proportion of the elements present in a display of given area. Test-retest data indicated substantial correlations over long intervals of time in the particular elements sampled by a S from a particular display. Efficiencies of detection with redundant critical elements were very close to those expected on the hypothesis of constant sample size over trials for any given display size and were relatively invariant with respect to distance between critical elements.
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This research was supported in part by Grant G-24264 from the National Science Foundation and Grant MH-6154 from the United States Public Health Service. The first author is responsible for the theoretical analyses and for the present report. The second author participated in the planning and conducting of both experiments.
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Estes, W.K., Taylor, H.A. Visual detection in relation to display size and redundancy of critical elements I. Perception & Psychophysics 1, 9–16 (1966). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207814
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207814