Single-letter recognition accuracy and position information: Benefits with a symbolic cue

Summary This study reports two experiments designed to test a model that has as a basic assumption that position information is at the basis of the cueing benefits observed in single-item recognition tasks with accuracy as the dependent variable. In the experiments, two cueing conditions were used; a 100%-valid symbolic-cue condition and a neutral-cue condition. In Experiment 1, in which position information was sometimes missing, the symbolic cue brought a significant benefit. In Experiment 2, in which position information was always available, no benefit was obtained. These results are consistent with, and support, the model. Improved knowledge of position is at the basis of the cueing benefits observed in this type of task.