Information on Location in Visual Persistence: Effects of Temporal Delay and Duration of Exposure on Report of Dot Location

Abstract

This study of location information involved in information persistence used the partial-report paradigm. Six subjects were asked on 144 trials to recall positions of dots presented in a display. The subjects were instructed to maintain only information on location (but not on identity information) of the presented dots until a partial-report cue was introduced. The effects of display duration (50, 200, and 350 msec.) and cue delay (interval between the display offset and the onset of the partial-report cue: 50, 250, and 500 msec.) were examined. Analysis showed effect of cue delay on partial-report performance decreased as the duration of display increased so performance was negatively affected by the cue delay only when the subject was exposed to the presented dots for 50 msec. Contrarily, partial-report performance did not decline much for a 200-msec. duration and showed little variation in a 350-msec. duration, even though the cue delay increased. Consequently, the decay of the information on location mediating partial-report performance about dots varies with duration of display.