Visual search has been studied extensively, yet little is known about how its constituent processes affect subsequent emotional evaluation of searched-for and searched-through items. In 3 experiments, the authors asked observers to locate a colored pattern or tinted face in an array of other patterns or faces. Shortly thereafter, either the target…

Attention and working memory limitations set strict limits on visual representations, yet researchers have little appreciation of how these limits constrain the acquisition of information in ongoing visually guided behavior. Subjects performed a brick sorting task in a virtual environment. A change was made to 1 of the features of the brick being…

Changes to a scene often go unnoticed if the objects of the change are unattended, making change detection an index of where attention is focused during scene perception. We measured change detection in school-age children and young adults by repeatedly alternating two versions of an image. To provide an age-fair assessment we used a bimanual…

The purpose of this study was to determine the sources of visual information used by highly skilled tennis players in anticipating their opponent's shots. In Experiment 1, motion analysis of the strokes showed that the relative motion between the racquet and forearm was different between the ground strokes and lobs, but there were no reliable…

This article reviews current knowledge about how the visual system recognizes letters and words, and the impact on reading when parts of the visual system malfunction. The physiology of eye and brain places important constraints on how we process text, and the efficient organization of the neurocognitive systems involved is not inherent but…

The present experiment investigated the impact of contextually trained discriminations on gambling behavior. Nine recreational slot-machine players were initially exposed to concurrently available computerized slot machines that were each programmed on random-ratio schedules of reinforcement and differed only in color. All participants distributed…

Using a simple change detection task involving vertical and horizontal stimuli, I. M. Thornton and D. Fernandez-Duque (2000) showed that the implicit detection of a change in the orientation of an item influences performance in a subsequent orientation judgment task. However, S. R. Mitroff, D. J. Simons, and S. L. Franconeri (2002) were not able…

In this article, we detail how to produce two inexpensive micromanipulators that offer high precision (approximately 25 micrometers) along a single axis of movement. The more expensive of the designs provides improved versatility along multiple axes. Both manipulators offer substantial savings over commercially available micromanipulators with…

The author uses the example of a text a student was not allowed to display on his course Web site to explore how and why institutional ideologies particular to the historical development of composition and creative writing--especially when viewed in conjunction with current copyright law--render students' multimedia compositions illegitimate. He…

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to examine the process by which people with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) access information on the web. Recent estimates include amateur sports and recreation injuries, non-hospital clinics and treatment facilities, private and public emergency department visits and admissions, providing…

An effective way to teach the concept of image is to give students a model of human vision which incorporates a simple mechanism of depth perception. In this study two almost identical versions of a curriculum in geometrical optics were created. One used a mechanistic, interpretive eye model, and in the other the eye was modeled as a passive,…

Accurately denoting colors and measuring their meanings have been long-standing challenges for scholars and artists alike. This study addressed this problem by suggesting that the use of a model of cyan, magenta, and yellow primary colors--which is common in industry but is generally neglected by scholars and fine artists--could greatly benefit…

Instructional design is a process that is creative, active, iterative and complex; however, many diagrams of instructional design are interpreted as stifling, passive, lock-step and simple because of the visual elements used to model the process. The purpose of this study was to determine the expressed perceptions of the types of flow diagrams…

A survey of several hundred German students led to two theses on school environment and learning. First, students find school buildings attractive only if they conform to certain features of the human sensory system such as balance. Second, students consider school buildings attractive and inviting only if their architectural message meets such…

A discussion of the visual aspect of second-language reading processes proposes a theoretical model of reading and reports on research into the kinds of questions second-language students ask in class. The model of reading outlined is based on the operations of the human eye. Just as the operations of the lens (focus) change the picture at the…