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If we allow several figures to appear at once, the number of possible input configurations is so very large that a wholly parallel mechanism, giving a different output for each of them, is inconceivable.

— Ulric Neisser

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More quotes by Ulric Neisser

Cognitive processes surely exist, so it can hardly be unscientific to study them.

To cope with this difficulty [of limited capacity], even a mechanical recognition system must have some way to select portions of the incoming information for detailed analysis.

Paying attention is not just analyzing carefully; rather, it is a constructive act... What we build has only the dimensions we have given it.

p. 96; As cited in: A.H.C. Van der Heijden (1996)

To deal with the whole visual input at once, and make discriminations based on any combination of features in the field, would require too large a brain, or too much "previous experience" to be plausible.

The fact that the span of apprehension averages only four or five... probably results from the high rate of encoding. In a tachistoscopic experiment the subject must read the fading icon as rapidly as possible.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ulric Neisser (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.