A quadrant tachistoscope for studying the legibility of Chinese characters.

Abstract

The instrument presently to be described is similar in its general function to the Kuhlmann (8) and the Dearborn-Langfeld (i) forms of exposure apparatus designed for moderately brief time-exposure. It may therefore be conveniently classed with the tachistoscopes, certain forms of which have long been used by psychologists for the measurement of short times. For various instruments designed to provide relatively long exposures we may adopt Esper's 2 term bradyscope (5). Bradyscopes and tachistoscopes belong to the same general class since they are all apparatus for exposing perceptual material for experimentation under temporal control.Five types of bradyscope used for memorial presentation may be distinguished; (i) the drum type of Schumann (13) and Meumann (10), later modified to a 'step-down' form by G. E. Miiller ( 12), (ii) the jail type of Minnemann (12) and Kuhlmann (8), (iii) the disc type of Ranschburg (11, 12), Wirth (17) and Lipmann ( 7), (iv) the booklet type of Baird (6) and Schulze (12), and (v) the endless-band type of Wirth (18), Wohlgemuth ( 14) and Esper (5).As Galileo was first (1609) to describe and exhibit in complete form the telescope and hence was conventionally known as its inventor, although it had been known for a long time before him, so we may credit the invention of the tachis-1 The construction of the tachistoscope was financed by the Thomas Welton Stanford Fund for Psychological Research. Constant encouragement and support from Professor Walter R. Miles have been a continuous incentive. Helpful suggestions have come from Mr. F. D. Banham, Mechanician Shop, Stanford University. Mr. Chien P'ei has taken the pictures of the tachistoscope. * Esper's particular type of bradyscope is used for the exposure of verbal, graphic and pictorial material to be memorized.

Recognition of letters displayed as briefly flashed dot patterns

“…The present work follows on a well-established strategy for studying the visual processing of verbal material using brief displays of letters and words (Bethlehem, 1968;Chou, 1929;Cormier & Tomlinson-Keasey, 1991;Robinson, 1934;Segalowitz, 1987;Tinker, 1929;Voboril et al 2014). Prior studies have displayed stimuli for tens of milliseconds, or longer, these durations being sufficient to drive a concurrent perceptual state, what might be called stimulus driven perception.…”

Reading and legibility of Chinese characters.

“…apparatus. This 'rapid vision' is made possible by a new quadrant tachistoscope (7) specially designed for this purpose, a complete description of which appears in this issue. It consists essentially of a shutter window in the form of four aluminum quadrants (hence the name), each of which can be opened separately in two directions, namely, the upper right quadrant either to the right or upward, the upper left quadrant either to the left or upward, the lower left quadrant either to the left or downward, and the lower right quadrant either to the right or downward.…”

“…The intrinsic factors that determine legibility in the Western languages also determine it for Chinese; only there are more complicated factors that do not influence the former. Some of the more important problems of reading and legibility in Chinese are (i) form or individual differences of the characters, (2) size of the character, (3) style of the character, (4) position of the character in the group, (5) spacing between characters, (6) length of line, (7) leading, (8) appearance of Arabic digits or foreign words, (9) punctuation and special marks, (11) index system and ( 12) hand-writing. Horizontal and vertical arrangement is only one of many problems.…”

Correspondence between Henry A. Murray and Siegen K. Chou.

“…Judging from his later work, Chou was undoubtedly one such ambitious and capable student. Under Miles' guidance, Chou invented the Quadrant Tachistoscope for studying reading and legibility of Chinese characters and published a series of articles on this topic (e.g., Chou, 1929aChou, , 1929bChou, , 1930aChou, , 1930bChou, , 1930cChou, , 1935. Furthermore, Chou made improvements on many experimental apparatus (e.g., Chou, 1929cChou, , 1929d.…”