Participants searched a visual display for a target among distractors. Each of 3 experiments tested a condition proposed to require attention and for which certain models propose a serial search. Serial versus parallel processing was tested by examining effects on response time means and cumulative distribution functions. In 2 conditions, the…

People are especially efficient in processing certain visual stimuli such as human faces or good configurations. It has been suggested that topology and geometry play important roles in configural perception. Visual search is one area in which configurality seems to matter. When either of 2 target features leads to a correct response and the…

Two strings of letters were presented. Subjects were instructed to indicate whether the second string contained the same elements as the first, regardless of position. Reaction time increased with the number of positions that the letters were displaced. Results indicate that order may be an important factor in retrieval from memory. (Author/BW)

The authors examined the prioritization of abruptly appearing objects in real-world scenes by measuring the eyes' propensity to be directed to the new object. New objects were fixated more often than chance whether they appeared during fixations (transient onsets) or saccades (nontransient onsets). However, onsets that appeared during fixations…

Three experiments report additional evidence that it is a mistake to account for all interletter effects solely in terms of sensory variables. These experiments attest to the importance of structural variables such as retina location, array size, and ordinal position. (Author/PN)