Visual images preserve metric spatial information: Evidence from studies of image scanning

Four experiments with 61 university students demonstrated that more time is required to scan further distances across visual images, even when the same amount of material falls between the initial focus point and the target. Not only did times systematically increase with distance, but subjectively larger images required more time to scan than did subjectively smaller ones. Finally, when Ss were not asked to base all judgments on examination of their images, the distance between an initial focus point and a target did not affect reaction times. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).