We frequently encounter groups of similar objects in our visual environment: a bed of flowers, a basket of oranges, a crowd of people. How does the visual system process such redundancy? Research shows that rather than code every element in a texture, the visual system favors a summary statistical representation of all the elements. The authors…

Using a combination of letter-detection and proofreading techniques, subjects searching for target letters in printed text made more errors on correctly spelled words than misspelled words. This word inferiority effect contrasts with the superior perception of letters in words over nonwords commonly found in tachistoscopic studies. (Author/CM)

A brief target that is visible when displayed alone can be rendered invisible by a trailing stimulus (metacontrast masking). It has been difficult to determine the temporal dynamics of masking to date because increments in stimulus duration have been invariably confounded with apparent brightness (Bloch's law). In the research reported here,…

A visual mask was moved across text in synchrony with readers' eye movements. The size was varied so that either information in foveal or parafoveal vision was masked. Most visual information necessary for reading can be acquired during the first 50 msec that information is available during an eye fixation. (Author/RD)

Two experiments tested the effects of crawling-onset age, amount of crawling experience, and testing age on avoidance of the deep side of a visual cliff apparatus by human infants. Crawling-onset age disciminated between infants because crawling during the tactile phase interferes with later visual control of locomotion. (Author/RD)