This study examines how task characteristics (the number of visual chunks and the amount of planning time) and test-taker characteristics (graph familiarity) influence the perceptual and cognitive processes involved in graph comprehension, the strategies used in describing graphs, and the scores obtained on the graph description task in a…

This investigation of cognitive effort begins with a review of cognitive principles relating to memory and graphic encoding of information. The cognitive framework described allows explanation of improved memory due to reparsing of graphic representations. It also provides the basis for optimizing graphical material design to insure best retention…

This study presents data augmenting the validity studies of the Wheatley Cube (McDaniel and Kroll, 1984), a computer managed test of spatial visualization. Twenty-one students in pilot training are administered several instruments designed to measure the ability to construct a cognitive three-dimensional space, including: (1) the Wheatley Cube,…

This study investigated the effects of color cues as well as the absence of such cues on the recognition of visual images using as subjects 28 college students in a basic communications course. The stimulus materials were slides in three categories: (1) original color (realistic), (2) black and white, and (3) non-realistic color format. Subjects…

Practice in interpreting the critical features of incomplete line drawings and integrating fragmentary visual information was shown to enhance the visual efficiency of partially sighted children, aged 5 to 8. (BW)

The attentional blink refers to the finding that the 2nd of 2 targets embedded in a stream of rapidly presented distractors is often missed. Whereas most theories of the attentional blink focus on limited-capacity processes that occur after target selection, the present work investigates the selection process itself. Identifying a target letter…

Two experiments were conducted to assess the performance of freshmen chemistry students with poor spatial visualization skills. In the first experiment, 31 chemistry students with academically deficient backgrounds completed a diagnostic test of their ability to visualize and interpret pictorial representations of simple molecular structures. At…

A comparison of test results on the Visual Discrimination Test was made between a group of 22 reading disabled children and 22 children who were reading on or above grade level. Both groups were of average or above-average intelligence and the two groups were matched for age and sex. The mean age was 10 years and 3 months and all the reading…

Investigated effect of methylphenidate (MPH) on ability of 26 children with Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADDH) to learn both trained and untrained complex visual relationships. Compared findings to their school performance under identical dosage. MPH enhanced children's learning of taught and untaught visual relationships;…

The relationship of eye movements while watching television to reading ability, cognitive style, and mode of presentation was studied using as subjects 85 third-grade children who had been classified as good or poor readers by scores on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test; their cognitive style was measured by the Children's Embedded Figures which…

The Berry Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration was devised as a measure of the degree to which visual perception and motor behavior are integrated in young children, measured by the copying of geometric forms. In this study, 64 three-year-old children were tested individually to investigate (1) whether there is a correlation between…

The DPI Criterion-Referenced Pre-Reading Screening Test is to be used as one means of identifying some strengths and weaknesses in certain areas of pre-reading skills. It is intended to be used as a screening instrument for beginning first graders. The areas of pre-reading skills to be screened are (1) auditory perception, (2) letter knowledge,…

This exploratory study was conducted to investigate the potential interaction between the media attribute, horizontal screen placement, and a learner's cognitive aptitudes, fluid ability, and visualization. The primary hypothesis tested was that low-ability learners who are without well-developed assembly and control operations should perform…

Investigated the relationship between Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire scores and kinesthetic acuity--the sense of body position and movement--among 10- and 14-year-olds. Found that in the older group, those with high levels of visual movement imagery performed better on measures of kinesthetic acuity; no such effect was found for…

This paper describes a study in which a Picture Readability Index (PRI) was used to investigate initial and extended perceptions of photographs. Readability criteria for evaluating instructional text seems to have been in place for a long time, yet instructional visuals like photographs and illustrations have typically been subject to no such…