EYE-MOVEMENT PARAMETERS IN PATTERN RECOGNITION

IN VISUALLY SCANNING 9 SIMULTANEOUSLY PRESENTED PATTERNS, HUMAN SS FIXATED SIGNIFICANTLY LONGER ON (1) PATTERNS THEY WERE LOOKING FOR (I.E., ON TARGETS) THAN ON PATTERNS THEY WERE NOT LOOKING FOR, AND (2) PATTERNS THAT EXACTLY MATCHED A MEMORIZED STANDARD PATTERN THAN ON PATTERNS THAT DIFFERED FROM THIS STANDARD. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT (1) SS MAY HAVE A GENERALIZED TENDENCY, WITHIN CERTAIN LIMITS, TO LOOK LONGER AT STIMULI THEY ARE LOOKING FOR THAN AT STIMULI THEY ARE NOT LOOKING FOR; AND (2) SS MAKE DEFINITE ANALYTIC COMPARISONS OF THE DETAILS AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A MEMORIZED STANDARD PATTERN AND A GIVEN FIXATED PATTERN, AS OPPOSED TO DETECTING A FIXATED PATTERN IN A MORE IMMEDIATE OR HOLISTIC MANNER. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1967 American Psychological Association.