PATTERN CHANGES IN RAPID SERIAL VISUAL PRESENTATION TASKS WITHOUT STRATEGIC SHIFTS

Observed patterns of intrusions in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) tasks have been used to infer whether relevant stimulus features are processed in serial or parallel. It has been claimed that intrusion patterns that consist primarily of posttarget stimuli result from the serial processing of stimulus features, whereas symmetrical patterns of intrusions result from the parallel processing of stimulus features. However, Botella and Eriksen (1991) have claimed that the parallel processing of stimulus features can generate both types of intrusion patterns. Here we report on an RSVP task in which the interstimulus interval (ISI) was manipulated randomly in order to prevent subjects from adopting a different strategy for each ISI. The subjects produced both patterns of intrusion. © 1991, The Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.