Parallel encoding within and between elementary stimulus dimensions

Abstract

Human ability to encode simultaneously different dimensions of a visual display was tested, using an “erasure” technique to control the time for which the visual information remained available for processing. Three separate vocabularies of test item were employed, one varying in terms of color and two in terms of form attributes. Simultaneous presentation of color and form stimuli gave evidence of nearly perfect parallel encoding of both types of attribute. Form-form combinations, on the other hand, indicated only partially simultaneous encoding of the primary form dimensions involved. It was suggested that, while primary encoding of different stimulus dimensions is simultaneous, within the same dimension encoding of discrete stimulus elements may occur seriatim.