Evidence for directional scanning with the order-of-report factor excluded.

Abstract

Directional-scanning in tachistoscopic recognition was studied, using a letter-detection procedure. Displays presented in normal orientation were processed left to right. The left-to-right processing reflects the order of scanning rather than simply the order of report, because the human subject had merely to report whether a particular letter was present or absent in the display, rather than report the entire display. When left-right mirror images were presented, the direction of scanning changed towards right to left. Even with mirror reversals, performance was better on word displays than on non-word displays.