Processing of Visible Language

The organization of the page as a technological device and our acquisition of information from it were subjects of keen interest to psychologists and designers a century ago. Research on the topics proceeded briskly for more than a quarter of a century th

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Processing of Visible Language Volutne 1 Edited by

Paul A. Kolers

University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Merald E. Wrolstad Visible Language Journal Cleveland, Ohio

and

Herman Bouma Institute for Perception Research Eindhoven, The Netherlands

PLENUM PRESS . NEW YORK AND LONDON

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Processing of visible language. "Proceedings of the conference held at the Institute for Perception Research, IPO, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, September 4-8,1977." Includes indexes. 1. Reading, Psychology of - Congresses. I. Kolers, Paul A. II. Wrolstad, Merald Ernest. III. Bouma, H. BF456.R2P79 153 79-13530 ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-0996-3 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-0994-9 DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4684-0994-9

Proceedings of the conference held at the Institute for Perception Research, IPO, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, September 5-8,1977 © 1979 Plenum Press, New York

Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1979 A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation 227 West 17th Street, New York, N.Y. 10011 All righ ts reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

Introduction

The organization of the page as a technological device and our acquisition of information from it were subjects of keen interest to psychologists and designers a century ago. Research on the topics proceeded briskly for more than a quarter of a century then, and was brought together in the still useful survey and analysis of them all that E.B. Huey published in 1908 as "The psychology and pedagogy of reading, with a review of the history of reading and writing and of methods, texts, and hygiene in reading." Research on the psychological aspects of literacy tended to diminish after that peak, but research on design and on the technology of presenting information has flourished apace meanwhile. Perhaps somewhat stimulated by the reissue of Huey's book by MIT Press in 1968, psychologists have returned to the study of literacy. The symposium that the present volume reports was an effort to bring together again psychologists interested in literacy and related forms of information acquisition, graphics designers, and engineers actively involved in the development and deployment of the newer technology. During this century, psychologists, graphics designers, and engineers have lost much of the mutual communication that their joint enterprise should encourage. The design of machines has often followed the convenience of packaging, the design of displays has often followed the designer's personal esthetic. Perhaps psychologists have been remiss in allowing the stud