Abstract
Two experiments are reported in which subjects compared the shape of two successively presented random visual forms. The first stimulus in the pair was one of five “standard” shapes, and the second stimulus was either the same as the standard or different by virtue of a perturbation in shape or an overall reflection. Marked individual differences were found in reaction time for the same-different comparison. For one type of subject “same” responses were faster than “different” responses, speed of “different” responses was unaffected by similarity of the test shape to the standard, and error rates and reaction times were not systematically related. For the other type of subject, “different” responses were generally faster than “same” responses, “different” reaction time decreased as the standard shape and the test shape became increasingly dissimilar, and error rates and reaction times were positively correlated. Implications of these individual differences for models of the same-different comparison process are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Attneave, F. Physical determinants of the judged complexity of shapes.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1957,53, 221–227.
Attneave, F., &Arnoult, M. D. The quantitative study of shape and patter perception.Psychological Bulletin, 1956,53, 452–471.
Bamber, D. Reaction times and error rates for “same”-“different” judgments of multidimensional stimuli.Perception & Psychophysics, 1969,6, 169–174.
Bamber, D., &Paine, S. Information retrieval processes in “same”-“different” judgments of letter strings. In S. Kornblum (Ed.),Attention and Performance IV. New York: Academic Press, 1973.
Bindra, D., Donderi, D. C., &Nishisato, S. Decision latencies of “same” and “different” judgments.Perception & Psychophysics, 1968,3, 121–130.
Cooper, L. A. Mental rotation of random two-dimensional shapes.Cognitive Psychology, 1975,7, 20–43.
Cooper, L. A., & Podgorny, P. Mental transformations and visual comparison processes: Effects of complexity and similarity.Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception and Performance, in press.
Cooper, L. A., &Shepard, R. N. Chronometric studies of the rotation of mental images. In W. G. Chase (Ed.),Visual information processing. New York: Academic Press, 1973.
Egeth, H. Parallel versus serial processes in multidimensional stimulus discrimination.Perception & Psychophysics, 1966,1, 245–252.
Egeth, H., &Blecker, D. Differential effects of familiarity on judgments of sameness and difference.Perception & Psychophysics, 1971,9, 321–326.
Hawkins, H. L. Parallel processing in complex visual discrimination.Perception & Psychophysics, 1969,5, 56–64.
Hock, H. S. The effects of stimulus structure and familiarity on same-different comparison.Perception & Psychophysics, 1973,14, 413–420.
Hock, H. S., Gordon, G. P., &Marcus, N. Individual differences in the detection of embedded figures.Perception & Psychophysics, 1974,15, 47–52.
Krueger, L. E. Effect of bracketing lines on speed of “same”-“different” judgment of two adjacent letters.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1970,84, 324–330.
Krueger, L. E. Effect of stimulus frequency on speed of “same”-“different” judgments. In S. Kornblum (Ed.),Attention and performance IV. New York: Academic Press, 1973.
Nickerson, R. S. “Same”-“different” response times with multi-attribute stimulus differences.Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1967,24, 543–554.
Nickerson, R. S., “Same”-“different” response times. A model and a preliminary test.Acta Psychologica, 1969,30, 257–275.
Nickerson, R. S. Binary-classification reaction time. A review of some studies of human information-processing capabilities.Psychonomic Monograph Supplements. 1972,4, (Whole No. 651, 275–318.
Sfkuler, R. W., &Abrams, M. Visual sameness. A choice time analysis of pattern recognition processes.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1968,77, 232–238.
Shfpard, R. N., &Metzler, J. Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects.Science, 1971,171, 701–703.
Tversky, B. Pictorial and verbal encoding in a short-term memory task.Perception & Psychophysics, 1969,6, 225–233.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was funded primarily by National Science Foundation Grant GB-31971X to Roger N. Shepard and also in part by National Institute of Mental Health Small Grant MH 25722-01 to the author. James P. Cunningham and Roger N. Shepard provided extremely helpful discussions concerning these data and advice concerning interpretation. Peter Podgorny made many exceedingly significant contributions to this research, from assistance in collecting and analyzing the data to fruitful discussion and argumentation concerning interpretations of the results.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cooper, L.A. Individual differences in visual comparison processes. Perception & Psychophysics 19, 433–444 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199404
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199404