THE EFFICIENCY OF DIFFERENT CUE TYPES FOR REDUCING SPATIAL-FREQUENCY UNCERTAINTY

Detection experiments reveal that performance is decreased when the si gnal's spatial frequency varies unpredictably across trials compared w ith conditions where it is field constant. However, this effect can mo re or less be compensated by presenting cues shortly before each trial , To investigate the efficiency of different sensory and symbolic cue types a signal-detection experiment with spatial-frequency uncertainty was carried out. The inter-stimulus interval between cue acid signal as well as for the sensory cue types, the spatial overlap between cue and signal, was varied. The results reveal appreciable efficiency diff erences. While some cues were only of little help, others reduced unce rtainty almost entirely. However, the efficiency of cues which were id entical to the signals was severely restricted by forward-masking effe cts when they were presented at the same position as the signal.