Two experiments investigated the process by which children encode briefly presented spatial positions. First, third, and fifth graders were asked to judge whether a test dot occupied the same position on a card as any one of a number of dots which had been presented tachistoscopically. (JMB)

Reports the findings of experiments that suggest that much of perception, even to high interpretive levels, is automatic and independent of intention or consciousness, and that the production of words in reading may involve problems that have nothing to do with articulation, even if the words have been identified. (GT)

The ability of young infants between the ages of 8 and 17 weeks to perceive outline shapes was investigated in nine experiments using an habituation paradigm. (JMB)

Effects on the event-related potential (ERP) waveform of differences in stimuli (task difficulty) and threshold were studied with 35 undergraduates performing a visual inspection time task and 30 performing a pitch discrimination task. In both tasks, ERP differences related to threshold were temporally localized differences in waveform shape. (SLD)

In order to shed light on the needs of children with cortical visual impairments, normal visual development of infants is described. Infant preferences for motion, faces, and black-and-white patterns are explained. Colors useful in stimulating vision development and the time needed for exposure to visual stimuli are discussed. (CR)

Discusses techniques for studying large-scale brain activity, insights from computational modeling, and cognitive processes that could lead to a better understanding of cognition. Describes interactions between psychology and physiology in perception, structural levels of organization in the nervous system, techniques and research strategies. (RT)

Visual scanning patterns of 17 students with mental retardation and control groups matched for chronological or mental age were recorded during visuomotor tasks. Results suggested that subjects paid more attention to penpoints than to the succeeding or passed points of a model line, indicating that they have a poorer ability to process more than…

To assess changes in processing speed in the second and third years of life, 2 sequential visual events were shown to 22-, 27-, and 32-month-old children, 12 at each age. Response clusters indicated that speed of processing increased with age and that a proactive inhibition declined with age. (SLD)

A theory of visual information acquisition and visual memory is described that conjoins two models that have been used to describe low-level perceptual and higher level cognitive processes. Six experiments with 21 adult observers generally support the theory, although some weakness is discussed. (SLD)

Two experiments with 78 college students investigated the effect of visual display coherence and simultaneous presentation of visual displays and stories on detailed recognition memory. Results suggest that unification of the visual display has a detrimental effect on memory for detail. (SLD)

Reconsiders the usual typologies of diagram presentations, questioning accepted taxonomies. Examines diagrammatic structures, revealing some hardened categories. Suggests that new discoveries can be made if questions are raised about how information is framed. (SR)

Discusses the role of visualization of information in learning. Theorizes that the comprehension of visualizations is a process of structure mapping between a visuo-spatial configuration and a mental model. Tests the model and finds differences in the use of text and picture information to answer different kinds of text questions. (DSK)

Four studies assessed a cognitive explanation for development of infants' preference for attractive faces: cognitive averaging and preferences for mathematically averaged faces, or prototypes. Findings indicated that adults and 6-month olds prefer prototypical, mathematically averaged faces and that 6-month olds can abstract the central tendency…

Studies with 65 adults found two new visual processing tasks, visual change detection and visual movement detection, to be correlated with inspection time and the nonverbal scores from the Alice Helm 4 test of general intelligence. Results are discussed in terms of the correlation between inspection time and intelligence and the psychobiological…

Developing visual communication media technologies, such as computerized television, three-dimensional video, digital video interactive (DVI), and high-definition television hinder rather than enhance viewers' perceptual processes, understanding, and aesthetic appreciation of visual messages. Visual communication media researchers should reach out…