Abstract
Detection of change when one display of familiar objects replaces another display might be based purely upon visual codes, or also on identity information (i.e., knowingwhat was presentwhere in the initial display). Displays of 10 alphanumeric characters were presented and, after a brief offset, were presented again in the same position, with or without a change in a single character. Subjects’ accuracy in change detection did not suggest preservation of any more information than is usually available in whole report, except with the briefest of offsets (under 50 msec). Stimulus duration had only modest effects. The interaction of masking with offset duration followed the pattern previously observed with unfamiliar visual stimuli (Phillips, 1974). Accuracy was not reduced by reflection of the characters about a horizontal axis, suggesting that categorical information contributed negligibly. Detection of change appears to depend upon capacity-limited visual memory; (putative) knowledge of what identities are present in different display locations does not seem to contribute.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ambler, B. A., &Proctor, R. (1976). The familiarity effect for single-letter pairs.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,2, 222–234.
Averbach, E., &Coriell, A. S. (1961). Short-term memory in vision.Bell Systems Technical Journal,40, 309–328.
Avon, S. E., &Phillips, W. A. (1980). Visualization and memorization as a function of display time and poststimulus processing time.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory,6, 407–420.
Coltheart, M. (1972). Visual information processing. In P. C. Dodwell (Ed.),New horizons in psychology. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books.
Coltheart, M. (1980). Iconic memory and visible persistence.Perception & Psychophysics,27, 183–228.
Duncan, J. (1980). The locus of interference in the perception of simultaneous stimuli.Psychological Review,87, 272–300.
Duncan, J. (1981). Directing attention in the visual field.Perception & Psychophysics,33, 533–547.
Henderson, L. (1972). Visual and verbal codes: Spatial information survives the icon.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,24, 439–447.
Hinton, G. (1979). Some demonstrations of the effects of structural descriptions in mental imagery.Cognitive Science,3, 231–250.
Hochberg, J. (1968). In the mind’s eye. In R. N. Haber (Ed.),Contemporary theory and research in visual perception (pp. 309–331). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winson.
Krueger, L. (1975). Familiarity effects in visual information processing.Psychological Bulletin,82, 949–974.
Krueger, L. (1978). A theory of perceptual matching.Psychological Review,85, 278–304.
Krueger, L. (1984). Self-termination in same-different judgments: Multiletter comparison with simultaneous and sequential presentation.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,10, 271–285.
LaBerge, D., &Samuels, S. J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading.Cognition Psychology,6, 293–323.
Lefton, L. A. (1973). Guessing and the order of approximation effect.Journal of Experimental Psychology,101, 401–403.
Pashler, H. (1984). Evidence against late selection: Stimulus quality effects in previewed displays.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,10, 429–448.
Pashler, H., &Badgio, P. (1985). Visual attention and stimulus identification.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,11, 105–121.
Pashler, H., &Badgio, P. (1987).Attentional issues in the identification of alphanumeric characters. Attention & performance XII: The psychology of reading. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Phillips, W. A. (1974). On the distinction between sensory storage and short-term visual memory.Perception & Psychophysics,16, 283–290.
Phillips, W. A., &Christie, D. F. M. (1977). Components of visual memory.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,29, 117–133.
Proctor, R. (1981). A unified theory for matching-task phenomena.Psychological Review,88, 291–326.
Purdy, J., Eimann, D., &Cross, H. (1980). Persistence of a briefly presented visual stimulus in sensory memory.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,16, 374–376.
Reicher, G., Snyder, C. R. R., &Richards, J. T. (1976). Familiarity of background characters in visual scanning.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,2, 522–530.
Scarborough, D. L. (1972). Memory for brief visual displays of symbols.Cognitive Psychology,3, 408–429.
Shiffrin, R. M. (1976). Capacity limitations in information processing, attention, and memory. In W. K. Estes (Ed.),Handbook of learning and cognitive processes (Vol. 4, pp. 177–236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Sperling, G. (1960). The information available in brief visual presentations.Psychological Monographs,74(11, Whole No. 498).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pashler, H. Familiarity and visual change detection. Perception & Psychophysics 44, 369–378 (1988). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210419
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210419