This paper describes the slope transition paradigm (STP), a variant of rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) that separates early (perceptual) processing time from total response time. The paradigm is based on a very simple idea: provide varying amounts of time for perceptual processing and find the moment when the subject begins to waste time waiting for more data. That moment is a measure of how much time was actually needed. The method was used in two experiments. Results are discussed in relation to set-size effects, perceptual capacity limits, attentional dwell times, and some related neurophysiological findings. The method appears to tap aspects of information processing that differ from those tapped in studies of the psychological refractory period, the attentional blink, and repetition blindness.
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