HOW MUCH DOES REPETITION FACILITATE PERCEPTION

2 experiments examined the effect of repetition on perception. In Exp. I, stimulus terms were presented for 24 consecutive brief exposures. Repetition improved performance when 4 trained Ss were required to report letters seen clearly or identify the term exposed; but when control was imposed over the amount of visual detail that had to be seen in order to make a correct response, by requiring Ss to report the continuously changing position of a thin letter in a repeatedly exposed term, repetition did not improve performance. Exp. II employed greater degrees of repetition. Terms were presented for 96 consecutive presentations. Regardless of whether a thin-letter technique was used or whether the task required Ss to report if the term presented was the same as or different from a comparison term, the effects were similar. If control was imposed over the degree of visual resolution required in order to make a correct response, repetition had only a slight effect on perception. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.