PERCEPTUAL SPEED, SWITCHING, AND TEMPORAL ACUITY FACTORS IN COGNITION

THE ADVENT OF MICROCOMPUTER AND ELECTRONIC DISPLAYS IS CHANGING THE NATURE OF EVERYDAY TASKS. MANY DISPLAYS MAKE HIGHER DEMANDS ON SWITCHING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN DISPLAYS THAN ON SUSTAINED INSPECTION OF A SINGLE DISPLAY. WE BELIEVE THAT TEMPORAL ACUITY DESCRIBES A CAPABILITY ADVANTAGE FOR THE NEW TASK DEMANDS. THE AVAILABILITY OF PORTABLE MICROCOMPUTERS, PARTICULARLY BATTERY OPERATED VERSIONS WITH RAPID ONSET VISUAL ELEMENTS (< 20 MSEC), MAY PERMIT THE ASSESSMENT OF THESE ABILITIES. WE PROPOSE TO DETERMINE WHETHER A TRAIT EXISTS INVOLVING TEMPORAL ACUITY FACTORS IN PERCEPTION. PARADIGMS DEALING WITH THEORETICALLY DISPARATE ASPECTS OF TEMPORAL AS OPPOSED TO SPATIAL FACTORS, FROM VARIOUS DOMAINS AND CONCEPTUAL MODELS (VIZ., INFORMATION PROCESSING, PERCEPTION AND COGNITION) WILL BE IMPLEMENTED ON A PORTABLE, LIGHTWEIGHT COMPUTER. THE METHODOLOGIES TO BE USED FOR EMPIRICAL STUDIES FOLLOW FROM MENTAL TEST THEORY. TASKS WILL BE ADMINISTERED TO GROUPS OF INDIVIDUALS OVER SEVERAL REPLICATIONS TO DETERMINE: (1) THE DEGREE OF STABILITY AND RELIABILITY OF EACH TEST, (2) THE NUMBER OF UNIQUE FACTORS EVALUATED BY SUCH TESTS, AND (3) THE RELATIONSHIP OF ANY "NEW" FACTORS TO OTHER "OLD" CAPABILITIES PRESENTLY MEASURABLE AND PREDICTIVE OF OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE (E.G., SCORES ON INTELLIGENCE TESTS OR TESTS OF SPATIAL PERCEPTION). IN PHASE II, THE FACTORS WHICH SURFACED WILL BE VALIDATED AGAINST REAL WORLD PERFORMANCES OF MILITARY PERSONS TO DETERMINE PREDICTIVE VALIDITY AND VARIANCE ACCOUNTED FOR, AND PERMIT GENERALIZATION AND UNEQUIVOCAL EVALUATION OF THE TEST PROPERTIES.