PERCEPTIONS OF TACHISTOSCOPICALLY PRESENTED LINES OF PRINT.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the predictive validity of a psycholinguistic model of the reading process as it dealt with perception. Ten lines of print which varied in terms of the characters employed in the line and the organizational pattern of those characters were tachistoscopically presented one-at-a-time. The subjects were asked to provide a written report of what they had seen. Eighty-two validated subjects provided data which were analyzed for the purpose of this study. Each subject's report for each line of print was scored on two dimensions: the accuracy and completeness of the report and the degree to which the report was meaningful and language-based. Two research questions were developed which involved ten research hypotheses. The research hypotheses were developed on the basis of the Goodman Model of Reading and concerned the subjects' perceptions of the lines of print. The principal findings were: (1) The more the line of print resembled written English the more accurately and completely the line was reported. (2) The unit of perception in reading is situationally determined but is the sentence or the clause when such units are available. (3) All three cuing systems must be available for perception in reading to be effective and efficient. (4) The reader's expectation and set for what is to be seen determines in large part what is perceived. (5) The individual is actively cognitively involved in the process of visual perception. (6) What is visually perceived is not limited to what is visually available. Statistical analysis yielded powerful findings which were strongly supportive of a psycholinguistic model of reading.