Abstract: The time course and strategies of figure recognition is an important issue addressed by this study. Previous studies to date have focused on eye movement strategies in figure recognition. However, there are few studies that have examined how feedback effects figure perception and recognition strategies. The main goal of this research was to investigate the feedback effect on the sampling of figure recognition.
Twenty-four collage students participated this study, All participants were right handed and had normal vision. A 2 x2 mixed measures design was used in this investigation. The within-subject independent variable was the display type, with two levels (rotated and upright). The between-subject independent variable was the feedback condition with two levels (feedback and no feedback). The task was to judge whether the figures displayed in a sequence were same or not.
The results revealed that the display type and feedback condition significantly influenced participants’ figure recognition time. Additionally, the first-sampling-parts of the two irregular geometric figures displayed in sequence were significantly correlated. With feedback, the strategies of figure recognition changed on sampling number, scanning path, and sampling time.
To summarize, the feedback condition influenced the time course and strategies of figure recognition.

Key words: figure recognition, sampling, strategy, time course, feedback