| Abstract: | Conducted 3 experiments to examine the processing of nominal information during a visual search. In Exp I, 6 experienced and 2 naive Ss searched for a single pre-specified target letter, and the stimulus exposure-time needed to yield a 50% (corrected for chance) level of accuracy was estimated using the parameter estimation by sequential testing procedure. Results show that the exposure-time was not influenced by the presence (in the irrelevant items) of the target's other case; this suggested that there was no obligatory accessing of nominal information during preattentive processing. In Exp II, 6 experienced Ss searched in Condition 1 for a single target which was specified as being one of a same-name pair of letters, and in Condition 2 for a target specified as one of a same-shape pair of letters. The exposure-time required for the same-name search was greater than that required for the same-shape search. In Exp III, accuracy of search was compared in the same-shape and same-name conditions with a control condition. The target in this control condition was specified as one of a pair of letters not sharing a name or any special shape. 12 Ss searched 6-item displays and 12 Ss searched 12-item displays for a pre-specified target letter. Results confirm the difference detected in Exp II, but they do not show any difference between performance in the same-name condition and in the control condition. It is suggested that some focal processing is required for the development of a sufficiently detailed level of visual representation to allow for naming. (French summary) (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
