An Analysis of Perceptual and Cognitive Factors in Radiographic Interpretation

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Abstract
Detection of small tumors in chest x-ray films was studied under tachistoscopic viewing conditions designed to simulate single fixations varying in dwell time, found in free search. Two questions were asked: How much dwell time is required to detect a nodule (experiment 1)? How effective are peripheral inputs in the detection of a nodule (experiment 2)? Our findings indicate that a dwell time of 300 ms was sufficient to detect 85% of the nodules when they were viewed directly. Detection accuracy was reduced by one-half when the tumor was located 5° from the axis of gaze. Taken together with data from eye movement experiments, these results provide useful estimates of perceptual and cognitive parameters of visual search.