Three experiments tested the hypothesis that graphs convey information effectively because they can display global trends as geometric patterns that visual systems encode easily. A novel type of graph was invented in which angles/lengths of line segments joined end-to-end represented variables of rainfall and temperature of a set of months. It was…

The visual scanning of redundant and random spatial configurations of two-digit numbers was investigated in a target recognition task. The experimental technique involved a brief exposure of a probe (a two-digit number) at the center of the visual field, followed by a spatial pattern of 16 two-digit numbers which included the matching target in…

The spatial layout of visual displays was evaluated by means of three magnitude estimation tasks and one reproduction task. Each stimulus display consisted of 16 randomly-drawn, two-digit numbers. Six different spatial layouts, or display types, were used: systematic vs. random spatial order of numbers; regular vs. irregular boundaries of the…

This investigation of the encoding features of graphs begins with a description of a cognitive framework which allows designers to factor into the process of designing displays how people interpret the information found and what display properties are responsible for this interpretation. The framework also provides a performance measure for use in…

Research suggests that when subjects are given a rule as to how to translate auditory or verbal information into images, the images have many common characteristics with cognitive representations derived from visual perceptions. This experiment examined the process of cognitive integration and the similarities and differences between how imagined…

This paper develops a theoretical context for the concept that visual literacy involves a specific type of information processing that has been discussed in the literature on symbolism and epistemology for a number of years. Literacy is discussed first, as a general process of information processing involving the generation of knowledge through…

In two experiments subjects were required to determine whether a random, angular form, presented at any of a number of picture-plane orientations was a "standard" or "reflected" version. Average time required to make this determination increased linearly with the angular departure of the form from a previously learned orientation. (Author/BJG)

This technical report contains papers prepared by the 11 speakers at the 1980 Lake Wilderness (Seattle, Washington) Conference on Attention. The papers are divided into general models, physiological evidence, and visual attention categories. Topics of the papers include the following: (1) willed versus automatic control of behavior; (2) multiple…

In an attempt to address the issue of bimodal coordination of featural stimuli, the sensitivity of 3-month-old infants to the auditory and visual components of male and female stimulus configurations was examined. Measures were made of the infants' visual attention to a male or female face while they listened to a male voice, female voice, or to…

The present study was designed to determine if subjects of different ages are equally distracted by meaningless perceptual and by semantic features of potentially interfering information. In contrast to a Stroop-like task, figures instead of words were used as possibly interfering information. First graders, fourth graders, and college students…

The major objective of this study was to explore how preschool children's ability to delay gratification was affected when children were asked to attend to actual rewards rather than pictures of rewards. Sixty subjects, 3 to 5 years of age, were given a choice between two rewards and then placed in a delay of gratification situation. Half of the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between field articulation and reading achievement at the end of grade one, and to investigate the effect on the pupil's reading achievement of the field articulation of the classroom teacher. The sample of pupils was drawn from eight first grade classrooms of female teachers. The…

The review summarizes empirical findings and theoretical views related to the Stroop color-word phenomenon, in which naming of a color is disrupted and delayed by the presence of an "irrelevant" word denoting a color different from the color patch. It was deemed important to increase awareness of this phenomenon, since it involves basic…

This study was based on the following assumptions: (1) functioning of the brain's left hemisphere, because of its logical, verbal mode, facilitates conservation reasoning; (2) functioning of the brain's right hemisphere, because of its nonverbal, spatial mode, inhibits conservation reasoning; (3) visual input from the left eye will reach the left…

The study examined the hemispheric laterality of 39 deaf children in the upper primary and intermediate grades. (Author)