Particle Source Identification, Part 1: Thinking in Assemblages
THE MICROSCOPE
2025, Volume 72:3, pp. 124–131
DOI
https://doi.org/10.59082/UGIK4736
AUTHORS
Russ Crutcher and Heidie Crutcher
ABSTRACT
Microscopists have long been aware of limitations in the human visual system. There is a limit to how many things one can look for in a field of view. If scanning for fibers, then only a few types can be tracked at a time. If looking for minerals, the same limitation occurs. One way around this limitation is to bunch things together: fibers, minerals, dander, plant debris, insect debris, rubber wear, and other. If the list gets much longer, then the field of view must be searched repeatedly, keeping track of a few things at a time.
These limitations and workarounds, so obvious to microscopists, have been the subject of research in a branch of cognitive psychology since at least 1890. Some of this research was the subject of a paper by the authors a few years ago. That paper presented a model of the human visual system that indicated the basic bottom-up and top-down processes involved in what is called “seeing.” That paper indicated the complex parallel processing that finally results in what we think we are seeing. It discussed the limitations of what is called the “working memory.” This article expands on that discussion and presents a much more rapid method for analyzing an environmental tapelift. It introduces the concept of assemblage analysis and explores the research from cognitive science that supports it.
These limitations and workarounds, so obvious to microscopists, have been the subject of research in a branch of cognitive psychology since at least 1890. Some of this research was the subject of a paper by the authors a few years ago. That paper presented a model of the human visual system that indicated the basic bottom-up and top-down processes involved in what is called “seeing.” That paper indicated the complex parallel processing that finally results in what we think we are seeing. It discussed the limitations of what is called the “working memory.” This article expands on that discussion and presents a much more rapid method for analyzing an environmental tapelift. It introduces the concept of assemblage analysis and explores the research from cognitive science that supports it.
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