Effect of Width of Movement of Masking Stimulus at Constant Target Separation
Abstract
In certain pieces of equipment, such as radar screens, operators are required to detect small target blips in the path of a moving line of light. Since the moving line presumably reduces the amount of contrast and, hence, the detectability of the blip, it might be supposed that the detectability of the target is more and more degraded as the amount of visible movement increases prior to the appearance of the target. In this study, target threshold was measured when a moving line was visible for varying distances beside the target, at several final separations of target and line. Contrary to expectation, it was found that an increase in the width of movement significantly improved the detectability of the stationary target in its path. Unless the moving line can be completely eliminated, it should not be restricted to narrow widths of movement near the target.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 11, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0651674
Entities
People
- Saul M. Luria
Organizations
- Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory