Temporal Structure of Letter Groups and Span of Perception

Abstract

The span of perception for letter groups depends on number of letters presented, length of presentation and structure of the groups. The experiment reported varied the temporal structure of the groups, leaving the total number of letters constant. Groups of 12 letters were presented as a whole or in two or more successive “units.” The total time of presentation was 1–5 sec. In the first experiment each unit was visible until the next appeared, in the second experiment units were visible only during 1/4 sec., although intervals between successive units were kept constant. The following conclusions emerged: (a) The visual presence of units did not affect the reproduction for durations over 0.25 sec., except in the 12-letter presentations. (b) 2×6 letters gave better results than either simultaneous presentation or other divisions; temporal separation was 0.75 sec. (c) Higher order approximations to Dutch have more influence on 3 × 4, 2 × 6 and 1 × 12 letters than on 4 × 3 and 6 × 2 letters. (d) A serial order effect exists: central units are reproduced less well than first and last units. It is suggested that handling a fixed amount of information within a fixed period is limited on the one hand by confusion between simultaneous elements and on the other hand by the interaction between successive units presented too rapidly to allow for proper operation of immediate memory. The difference between span of perception and span of memory is stressed.