Processing of Alphabetic Information Presented in the Fovea or the Periphery: Functional Visual Field and Cognitive Load

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Abstract
In a tachistoscopic reaction-time study that required subjects to respond ‘same’ or ‘different’ to vertically arrayed letter pairs, it was found that cognitive load (level of required match) and retinal eccentricity were both potent variables. It seems that subjects can process low-level information (physical matches) quite effectively out to at least 7 deg visual angle from fixation, in either direction. It was also demonstrated that higher-level processing may proceed fairly efficiently out to at least 4 deg from fixation. These estimates suggest that the abilities of the information processor to deal effectively with the periphery may have been underestimated in the past.