Visual search and reading

Abstract

Asked undergraduates to look for occurrences of words from a target list while reading a passage for comprehension. Number of target words in memory (1, 2, or 4) was combined factorially with number of occurrences of target words in text (0, 1, 2, or 4) in a within-ss design. In exp. I, 12 ss searched for the specific words in the target list, and, in exp. Ii, 12 ss searched for any close associate of words in the target list. In both experiments, reading speed was affected only by the number of words in the target list. Neither variable had any effect on comprehension. Results indicate that central memory load limits reading speed, but scanning and decoding processes are so automated that they are unaffected by tallying operations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1971 American Psychological Association.