PMID: 9183987Dec 1, 1995Paper

Letter localization, not discrimination, is constrained by attention

Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology = Revue Canadienne De Psychologie Expérimentale
P J Bennett, P D Jaye

Abstract

Shaw (1984; Shaw, Mulligan & Stone, 1983) measured the probability of detecting a target letter in displays containing different numbers of items. The set size effect was significantly larger than the effect predicted by unlimited-capacity models of visual processing, and Shaw concluded that attention constrains the discrimination of complex, but not simple, patterns. We re-examined the role of attention in letter discrimination by measuring the effect of set size on the contrast needed to identify a target embedded among distractors. The results of 5 experiments show that set size effects are small for letter discrimination, but large for letter localization. The findings suggest that the large set size effect reported by Shaw (1984) was a result of asking subjects to localize the target. In addition, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that limited processing capacity constrains the perceptual processes involved in letter localization, but not discrimination.

Citations

Aug 24, 2001·Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance·J KawaharaJ T Enns
Dec 21, 2006·Psychological Science·Miguel P EcksteinSteven S Shimozaki
May 10, 2001·Vision Research·K R Dobkins, R G Bosworth
Jul 30, 2003·Vision Research·Elizabeth Thorpe DavisRachel Keyes Michel
May 2, 2000·Vision Research·J PalmerM Pavel
Apr 12, 2001·Perception·T A Visser, J T Enns
May 19, 2017·Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR·Sabine HeuerBrooke Hallowell
Feb 19, 2000·Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, Image Science, and Vision·M P EcksteinF O Bochud

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