Some methodological considerations and strategies for processing of visual information

The ability of adults to process visual Information varying on the dimensions of color, symmetry, and information load, was investigated in the present study by means of a recognition task. The subjects were 15 males and 17 females associated with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Prior to the onset of the actual experiment, all subjects were given familiarity with stimulus slides, similar to, but different from those used in the study. During training the subjects' task was to simply look at each slide as it appeared on the screen, noting its colors, symmetry, number, and position of stripes filled in with color in each pattern. During the recognition part of the experiment, each subject was required to state whether or not he recognized a stimulus slide out of five alternatives. If the subject responded "yes" for recognizing the stimulus slide, he then made a first and second choice as to which two, out of the five alternatives, were first and second most likely to be the stimulus slide. If the subject responded "no" for not recognizing the stimulus slide, he still made one selection out of the five alternatives as to which one was most likely to be the stimulus slide. The results of the study indicated that information load was important in recognition and that subjects utilized perceived similarity among stimulus items in addition to specific stimulus dimensions