Citation

Braly KW. J. Exp. Psychol. 1933; 16(5): 613-643.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1933, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/h0069843

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The object of this investigation was a study of the role of past experience in perception, or more specifically, a determination of the influence of the perception of certain visual forms upon the subsequent perception of other visual forms. The procedure consisted of repeated tachistoscopic exposures of geometrical forms of a given type as an "impression series" followed by a test series consisting of additional geometrical forms of different types interspersed with the initial ones. It was found that: (1) the presentation of a particular type of figure in a short impression series noticeably influences the reports of succeeding figures; (2) the effects of the impression series are specific to the particular type of figure used in that series; (3) simple figures vary considerably in the difficulty with which they are perceived; (4) the extent to which past experience is effective varies according to the particular figures employed as impression and test figures, and is definitely related to the degrees of perceptual difficulty of the figures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)