This article uses diagrams that help the observer see how solutions of the wave equation and heat conduction equation are obtained. The analytical approach cannot necessarily show the mechanisms of the key to the solution without transforming the differential equation into a more convenient form by separation of variables. The visual clues based…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine if university students could accurately extract information from graphs presented in 2D or 3D formats with different colour hue variations or solid black and white. Design/methodology/approach: Participants are presented with 2D and 3D bar and pie charts in a PowerPoint presentation and are asked to…

Geometry is required for many secondary school students, and is often learned, taught, and assessed more in a heuristic image-based manner, than as a formal axiomatic deductive system. Students are required to prove general theorems, but diagrams are usually used. It follows that understanding how students engage in perceiving and reasoning about…

Recent research indicates that infants first use form and then surface features as the basis for individuating objects. However, very little is known about the underlying basis for infants' differential sensitivity to form than surface features. The present research assessed infants' sensitivity to luminance differences. Like other surface…

High functioning autistic individuals (N=16) were compared with age-matched normal control subjects on a visual recognition matching task. Autistic subjects performed particularly poorly on meaningless material, but were able to utilize meaning to aid their visual memory. Results did not support a simple parallel between autism and mediotemporal…

The central and peripheral visual fields are structurally segregated in the brain and are differentiated by their anatomical and functional characteristics. While the central field appears well suited for tasks such as visual search, the periphery is optimized for rapid processing over broad regions. People vary in their abilities to make use of…

Article based on speech given before First Annual National Conference on Visual Literacy (Rochester, New York, March, 1969).

Eight experiments, each with 10 observers in each condition, show that the visual search for Mueller-Lyer stimuli is based on complete configurations rather than component segments with preemption by low-level groups. Results support the view that rapid visual search can only access higher level, more ecologically relevant structures. (SLD)

Those who focus on the study of visual information continue to search for effective ways to conceptualize that inquiry. However, many visual examples are better categorized as visual/verbal collaboration, complicating analysis. When analysis is based on the assumption that visual and verbal modalities perform in similar ways, important…

Object substitution masking (OSM) is said to occur when a perceptual object is hypothesized that is mismatched by subsequent sensory evidence, leading to a new hypothesized object being substituted for the first. For example, when a brief target is accompanied by a longer lasting display of nonoverlapping mask elements, reporting of target…

A model is described to suggest how the visual system may keep track of perceived objects as their images move on the retina. (Author)

The study employed the use of field reversals--printing white and yellow foregrounds on a black background--to decrease the amount of light reflected from printed materials to the eye with 18 visually impaired children (9-14 years old). The findings indicated that neither reversals in contrast nor chromaticity differences were effective measures…

Using the Luck and Vogel change detection paradigm, we sought to investigate the capacity of visual working memory in 5-, 7-, and 10-year-olds. We found that performance on the task improved significantly with age and also obtained evidence that the capacity of visual working memory approximately doubles between 5 and 10 years of age, where it…

The author cautions that far from being an educational panacea, computers may actually be frustrating or even harmful for children with visual problems, including difficulties with visual-tactual development, visual attention span, and nearsightedness. A coordinated program implemented by education and clinicians is advocated. (CL)

This paper reviews two studies of color preference and the relationships between color and legibility. The Gustin study in 1991 dealt with the legibility of and preference for projected slides with colored backgrounds and white text. The order of background color preference was cyan, blue, green, yellow, magenta, and red. The follow-up study by…