Target Recognition on Complex Displays 1

This study was conducted to determine the speed and accuracy of form recognition as a function of: (1) the amount of distortion between the reference form and the target form, (2) the number of irrelevant forms in the target display, and (3) the stimulus properties of the forms involved. The stimulus forms were generated by filling in, on a statistical basis, some of the cells of a 90,000-cell matrix. The subjects were shown a reference photograph of a target and instructed to locate that target on a display containing numerous other forms. Both criterion measures, viz., search time and errors, increased as a function of: (1) an increase in the number of irrelevant forms on the target display, and (2) an increase in the difference between the resolution of the reference form and that of the target display. A quantitative description of the targets, which can be used to predict relative target difficulty, was developed.