New evidence for the zoom lens model using the RSVP technique

A main prediction from the zoom lens model for visual attention is that per formance is an inverse function of the size of the attended area The "atten tion shift paradigm" developed by Sperling and Reeves (1980) was adapted he re to study predictions from the zoom lens model. In two experiments two li sts of items were simultaneously presented using the rapid serial visual pr esentation technique. Subjects were to report the first item he/she was abl e to identify in the series that did not include the target (the letter T) after he/she saw the target. In one condition, subjects knew in which list the target would appear; in another condition, they did not have this knowl edge, having to attend to both positions in order to detect the target The zoom lens model predicts an interaction between this variable and the dista nce separating the two positions where the lists are presented. In both exp eriments, this interaction was observed. The results are also discussed as a solution to the apparently contradictory results with regard to the analo g movement model.