Factorial Study of Speed of Response in Simple Cancellation Tasks

Several factor analyses have been conducted with the objective of isolating the aspects of the stimulus situation affecting performance on simple tasks presented under the set for speed as well as accuracy. The factors in this area of performance have not proved to be as stable as have some in the areas of verbal, spatial, and numerical skills. In a recent factor analysis, [1], several new hypotheses were presented to account for the apparent instability of the perceptual-speed domain. One of these hypotheses was that three or more linearly independent factors must be postulated to account for the variance of these perceptual-speed tasks. Further study of the implications of these hypotheses seems to be warranted in the light of the stability or invariance which now seems probable