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A tachistoscope is a device that displays a picture, text, or an object for a specific amount of time. It can be used for various purposes such as to increase recognition speed, to show something too fast to be consciously recognized, or to test which elements of a display are memorable.
Early tachistoscopes were mechanical, using a flat masking screen containing a window. The screen concealed the picture or text until the screen moved, at a known speed, the window over the picture or text, revealing it. The screen continued to move until it hid the picture or text again. Later tachistoscopes used a shutter system typical of a camera in conjunction with a Slide projector or transparency projector. Even later, tachistoscopes used brief illumination, such as from fast-onset and fast-offset , of the material to be displayed. By the late 1990s, tachistoscopes had largely been replaced by computers for displaying pictures and text.
Tachistoscopes were used during the late 1960s in public schools as an aid to increased reading comprehension for speed reading. There were two types: the student would look through a lens similar to an aircraft bombsight viewfinder and read letters, words, and phrases using manually advanced slide film. The second type projected words and phrases on a screen in sequence. Both types were followed up with comprehension and vocabulary testing.Brown, James I, "Teaching Reading With the Tachistoscope", Journal of Developmental Reading, Winter, 1958, 1(2)8–18
Tachistoscopes continue to be used in market research, where they are typically used to compare the visual impact, or memorability of marketing materials or packaging designs. Tachistoscopes used for this purpose still typically employ slide projectors rather than computer monitors, due to
How to Build and Use a Tachistoscope]
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