The Automatic and Controlled Processing of Temporal and Spatial Patterns.
Abstract
Automatic and controlled processing of spatial and temporal visual sequences was studied. The sequences were composed of three line segments that rapidly occurred across a single visual channel. Subjects' task was to identify the target sequence from three distractor sequences. Subjects were trained and tested on two kinds of sequences: (1) consistently mapped (CM) sequences where the target sequence was always a target and never a distractor; and (2) variably mapped (VM) sequences where a particular sequence could be either a target or a distractor on any given trial. Subjects trained for 8680 total trials on both CM and VM sequences. Test experiments showed: (a) CM sequences were less affected by increasing the number of channels; (b) most subjects could perform dual task CM & VM search without deficit; (c) there was strong positive transfer to CM sequences with changing stimulus durations, temporarily overlapping line segments, and running segments backward; (d) subjects appear to rate CM and VM sequences differently; and (e) CM training did not transfer to rotated stimuli. Results suggest the processes developed to identify CM and VM sequences were qualitatively different; CM sequences were automatically processed and VM sequences were control processed. However, the automatic process that developed for these relatively unfamiliar spatiotemporal patterns was weak.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA084148
Entities
People
- Ray Eberts
- Walter Schneider
Organizations
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign