Preattentive and Attentive Visual Information Processing

本研究将探讨复杂显示的视觉处理。解决的基本问题是这种显示器的处理是串行的还是并行的。换句话说，该研究询问是什么决定了人们同时掌握或理解多个对象的程度（并行处理），而不是一次掌握一个对象（串行处理）。探索并行和串行处理的决定因素的必要先决条件是定量方法，该方法将允许在特定情况下将性能表征为并行或串行。这种方法的发展已被证明是一项艰巨的任务。过去提出的几种表征加工模式的方法已被证明是有问题的。本研究将探索几种“诊断”的使用，当它们同时应用时，应该允许明确确定处理模式。研究的第一部分将包括努力验证潜在有用的诊断。在此验证之后，研究将转向探索是什么决定了搜索是并行的、串行的，还是介于两者之间的其他东西。一个关键变量是刺激方案的复杂性。当被试有一个简单的任务时，处理过程应该是并行的，比如在蓝色干扰物的背景中定位一个单一的红色目标，但是如果目标被定义为红色和正方形，而背景由红色圆圈和蓝色正方形组成，会发生什么呢？据报道，这种联合定义的目标有时需要串行处理；如果目前的研究用新的和改进的诊断证实（或反驳）这一点，它将有重要的理论反响。除了刺激的复杂性外，本研究还将探讨其他几个因素的影响，如显示元素之间的距离和显示元素形成的空间模式。了解这些因素的影响是很重要的，原因有两个。首先，当人们与机器交互时，它们在设计设备以最大限度地提高有效性能方面具有实际重要性。另一方面，对这些影响的分析将有助于研究人员建立视觉处理的理论模型。

This research will explore visual processing of complex displays. The basic question addressed is whether processing in such displays is serial or parallel. In other words, the research asks what determines the extent to which people can grasp or apprehend several objects simultaneously (parallel processing), as opposed to one object at a time (serial processing). A necesary prerequisite to exploration of the determinants of parallel and serial processing is quantitative methods that will permit characterization of performance in a particular situation as parallel or serial. Development of such methods has proven to be a difficult task. Several methods proposed in the past to characterize processing mode have been shown to be problematic. This research will explore the use of several "diagnostics" that should allow a clear determination of processing mode when they are applied simultaneously. The first part of the research will consist of an effort to validate the potentially useful diagnostics. Following this validation, the research will turn to exploration of what determines whether search is parallel, serial, or perhaps something else in between. One crucial variable is the complexity of the stimulus. Processing should be parallel when the subject has an easy task such as locating a single red target in a background of blue distractors, but what will happen if the target is defined as red and square, and the background consists of red circles and blue squares? Such conjunctively defined targets have sometimes been reported to require serial processing; if the present research confirms (or refutes) this with new and improved diagnostics it will have important theoretical repercussions. In addition to stimulus complexity, this research will explore the effects of several other factors, such as the distance between the elements of a display and the spatial patterns formed by the elements of a display. It is important to know about the effects of these factors for two reasons. For one, they are of practical importance in designing equipment that maximizes effective performance when people are interacting with machines. For another, analysis of these effects will help researchers to develop theoretical models of visual processing.