Abstract
Ss were given extended practice in card sorting. Each card was inscribed with nine letters; on half the cards one letter was a “target.” With practice, the Ss could sort as fast for eight targets at once as for a single difficult target, while maintaining the same overall error rates. However, they did miss the difficult target itself more often when it occurred in the multiple-target condition than when they were searching for it alone.
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This research was supported by Grant No. MH-18882-01 from the National Institute of Mental Health during 1970. The write-up was completed while the author was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California; D. A. Norman provided helpful comments on the manuscript. Requests for reprints should be sent to Ulric Neisser, Department of Psychology, Cornel] University, Ithaca, New York 14850. The indefatigable efforts of Joan Gang and David DeVilliem, who collected the data, and of our eight hard-working Ss are gratefully acknowledged.
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Neisser, U. Practiced card sorting for multiple targets. Memory & Cognition 2, 781–785 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198155
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198155