Visual search and reading of rapid serial presentations of letter strings, words, and text

Abstract

Tested perceptibility and readability of letter strings, words, and running text presented as sequences of rapid serial visual presentations (RSVPs) via a computer display. Exps I and II showed that 28 college students could rapidly and accurately detect the presence or absence of a target letter in single letter strings and in RSVPs of 5 successive strings presented at rates of 100, 200, or 300 msec/string. Exp III demonstrated that 12 Ss could search for exemplars of semantic category more accurately than they could search for single target letters given RSVPs on 9 successive words. Accuracy was greater in both cases when the sequences formed normal sentences than when they were scrambled versions of those sentences. Exp IV, with 48 Ss compared comprehension for material read in a normal paragraph format with RSVP sentences. Over a range of reading difficulties and presentation rates, comprehension was generally equivalent in the 2 modes of presentation. Results indicate that text can be read at rapid rates and with good comprehension when it is presented as a sequence of brief presentations of single words or small groups of words. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1982 American Psychological Association.