Showing papers in "Visual Cognition in 1999"
TL;DR: In this paper, three studies manipulated the direction of gaze in a computerized face, which appeared centrally in a frontal view during a peripheral letter discrimination task, and found faster discrimination of peripheral target letters on the side the face gazed towards, even though the seen gaze did not predict target side, and despite participants being asked to ignore the face.
Abstract: This paper seeks to bring together two previously separate research traditions: research on spatial orienting within the visual cueing paradigm and research into social cognition, addressing our tendency to attend in the direction that another person looks. Cueing methodologies from mainstream attention research were adapted to test the automaticity of orienting in the direction of seen gaze. Three studies manipulated the direction of gaze in a computerized face, which appeared centrally in a frontal view during a peripheral letter-discrimination task. Experiments 1 and 2 found faster discrimination of peripheral target letters on the side the computerized face gazed towards, even though the seen gaze did not predict target side, and despite participants being asked to ignore the face. This suggests reflexive covert and/or overt orienting in the direction of seen gaze, arising even when the observer has no motivation to orient in this way. Experiment 3 found faster letter discrimination on the side the computerized face gazed towards even when participants knew that target letters were four times as likely on the opposite side. This suggests that orienting can arise in the direction of seen gaze even when counter to intentions. The experiments illustrate that methods from mainstream attention research can be usefully applied to social cognition, and that studies of spatial attention may profit from considering its social function.
1,010 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that these findings are consistent with the operation of a reflexive, stimulus-driven or exogenous orienting of an observer's visual attention.
Abstract: Four experiments investigate the hypothesis that cues to the direction of another's social attention produce a reflexive orienting of an observer's visual attention. Participants were asked to make a simple detection response to a target letter which could appear at one of four locations on a visual display. Before the presentation of the target, one of these possible locations was cued by the orientation of a digitized head stimulus, which appeared at fixation in the centre of the display. Uninformative and to-be-ignored cueing stimuli produced faster target detection latencies at cued relative to uncued locations, but only when the cues appeared 100 msec before the onset of the target (Experiments 1 and 2). The effect was uninfluenced by the introduction of a to-be-attended and relatively informative cue (Experiment 3), but was disrupted by the inversion of the head cues (Experiment 4). It is argued that these findings are consistent with the operation of a reflexive, stimulus-driven or exogenous orient...
538 citations
TL;DR: A two-parameter Rasch rating scale model was developed to measure visual discomfort as mentioned in this paper, and it was found that participants reporting frequent severe headache, reading difficulties of a visual nature, and short effective reading times experienced more severe visual discomfort.
Abstract: A two-parameter Rasch Rating Scale model was developed to measure visual discomfort. Initially it was found that participants reporting frequent severe headache, reading difficulties of a visual nature, and short effective reading times experienced more severe visual discomfort. The validity of this measurement instrument was tested in four experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2 reports of unpleasant somatic and perceptual side-effects or ratings of unpleasantness were obtained for low, moderate, and high scorers on the Visual Discomfort Scale. It was found that those with higher scores reported a greater number of unpleasant side-effects and rated square-wave patterns across the spatial frequency range, and a letter pattern as more unpleasant and distorted to view than those with low scores on the scale. In Experiments 3 and 4 these subjective findings were extended to performance. Efficiency was measured using a copying and reading task. It was found that those obtaining high scores on the Visual Discomfor...
161 citations
TL;DR: This paper showed that the inner face advantage is a developmental rather than a maturational phenomenon and discussed the implications of the failure to show a qualitatively adult-like pattern of face recognition before adolescence.
Abstract: Known faces are recognized better from their inner than outer parts (Ellis, Shepherd, & Davies, 1979). This has previously been demonstrated with cropped images. Using a blurring technique to defocus different parts of the face image systematically, we confirmed the effect for adults viewing famous faces (Experiment1). Children aged 5–13 years showed an outer-face advantage (Experiments 2 and 3). The inner-face advantage was found only at 15 years (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 showed an outer-face advantage in familiar face recognition when the viewers were adolescents with a mental age of under 10 years. The emergence of the inner-face advantage is a developmental rather than a maturational phenomenon. We discuss the implications of the failure to show a qualitatively adult-like pattern of face recognition before adolescence in relation to theories and models of face recognition.
92 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the integration of facial features and house parts to form holistic representations of complete objects and found that facial features used in the matching task contribute differentially to CPAs across varying probe delays but with a similar pattern to that found in the recognition task.
Abstract: We explore the integration of facial features and house parts to form holistic representations of complete objects. In Experiments 1, 2, and 3, we test for evidence of the holistic representation of houses and faces. We do so by testing for a complete over part probe advantage (CPA) in 2AFC recognition and matching tasks. We present evidence consistent with holistic features being represented for both types of stimuli. In Experiments 4 and 5, we examine further theeffect with faces. Experiment 4 shows thatfacial features used in the matching task contribute differentially to CPAs across varying probe delays but with a similar pattern to that found in the recognition task (Experiment 1). Experiment5 shows thatCPAs are mandatory and cannot be removed by precueing with the probe type or the name of the feature to be probed.
71 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the identification of human actions and body postures viewed from different viewpoints was examined in four long-term priming experiments with static pictures of a human model, where participants had to name or describe the pictures, and in Experiments 3 and 4 they had to decide whether the pictures showed a possible or impossible body pose.
Abstract: The identification of human actions and body postures viewed from different viewpoints was examined in four long-term priming experiments with static pictures of a human model. In Experiments 1 and 2 participants had to name or describe the pictures, and in Experiments 3 and 4 participants had to decide whether the pictures showed a possible or impossible body pose. Reliable priming effects were obtained only when priming and primed action or pose shared the same in-depth orientation (Experiments 1 and 4) and left-right reflection (Experiments 2 and 3). Having seen the same action or pose in a different orientation did not reliably facilitate identification performance later on. Also, there was no priming for poses that are impossible to perform with a human body, not even when an identical same-view prime was used. These findings suggest that the stored representations that mediate the identification of human actions and postures are viewpoint specific.
69 citations
TL;DR: This article reported a series of studies demonstrating reduced repetition blindness (RB) for one's own name for RSVP streams, where participants searched for the target names among nouns, among other names, and when participants just detected the presence or absence of the second name.
Abstract: We report a series of studies demonstrating reduced repetition blindness (RB) for one's own name. Participants searched RSVP streams for their own name and another name, and reported how many times these names appeared in each stream. In half of the streams containing two names, the same name was repeated; in the other half, the two names were different. Half of the repetitions were the participant's own name, half were another name. The results showed large RB for the “other name” condition, and attenuated, but significant, RB for the “own name” condition. This reduction in RB for the participant's own name was found when participants searched for the target names among nouns, among other names, and when participants just detected the presence or absence of the second name. Reduced RB for one's own name helps to reduce previous uncertainty regarding the existence of lexical and conceptual RB for words.
56 citations
TL;DR: A mathematical framework based on Valentine's (1991) exemplar-based model, which accounts for the caricature advantage without reference to an explicitly encoded norm face, and encodes faces in a multidimensional Voronoi diagram based on normally distributed face-space representations.
Abstract: Explanations of the caricature advantage (caricatured faces are recognized faster than veridicals) usually involve an encoded prototypical norm face (Rhodes, Brennan, & Carey, 1987). As an alternative to these, the present study describes a mathematical framework based on Valentine's (1991) exemplar-based model, which accounts for the caricature advantage without reference to an explicitly encoded norm face. This framework encodes faces in a multidimensional Voronoi diagram based on normally distributed face-space representations. The properties of this framework are investigated geometrically and computationally. It is demonstrated how a parallel processing system can extract a Voronoi diagram from multidimensional representations. The framework was able to account for many of the empirical findings on face recognition and caricaturization without extracting a norm face.
56 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical framework for studying the integration of information over time in experimental paradigms involving the successive presentation of printed strings of letters with varying orthographic overlap (orthographic priming) is presented.
Abstract: We present a theoretical framework for studying the integration of information over time in experimental paradigms involving the successive presentation of printed strings of letters with varying orthographic overlap (orthographic priming). This framework is expressed as a set of six processing principles, five of which are derived directly from the interactive activation model of orthographic processing (McClelland & Rumelhart, 1981), and an additional sixth principle relative to a hypothesized inhibitory reset mechanism. The validity of these principles are evaluated with respect to data obtained from different variants of the orthographic priming paradigm, and related paradigms.
51 citations
TL;DR: A single object generally activates neurones in many visual cortical areas corresponding to a distributed representation of its features, and the cortical regions synchronized by fastoscillations do notspan the representational range of larger objects but only parts of it.
Abstract: A single object generally activates neurones in many visual cortical areas corresponding to a distributed representation of its features. Itis still under debate how the distributed representation of an objectis bound intoa coherent whole and how unrelated features are separated. Synchronization of neural signals has been proposed to code spatial feature binding, supported by the discovery of synchronized assemblies in visual cortex. Synchronizations are either fast oscillatory (30–90 Hz) cortically generated events, or non-rhythmical stimulus-locked responses, depending on the visual stimulation. The cortical range over which synchronizations occur, transformed to visual space, is generally several times larger than the classical receptive fields (CRF) of neurones in lower visual cortex areas. However, the cortical regions synchronized by fastoscillations do notspan the representational range of larger objects but only parts of it. To relate such restricted segments to perceptual processes the concept of...
42 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of viewpoint in depth, and of stimulus type (line drawings vs silhouettes) on picture identification were reported into three experiments, and it was found that strongly foreshortened views were harder to identify than more canonical views.
Abstract: Three experiments are reported into the effects of viewpoint in depth, and of stimulus type (line drawings vs silhouettes) on picture identification. Clear effects of both factors were observed. Strongly foreshortened views were harder to identify than more canonical views, and silhouettes were harder to identify than line drawings. Furthermore, there was a strong interaction. The foreshortening disadvantag e was greatly increased if silhouettes rather than line drawings were presented. Our results suggest that the internal information available in line drawings (but not silhouettes) is critical for identifying foreshortened views of objects. Additional results from an agnosic patient, HJA, suggest that certain forms of brain damage can disrupt the use of internal information for identification, reducing differences between performance with line drawings and silhouettes.
TL;DR: The effect of body tilt on the orientation selectivity of single neurons in the visual cortex of an alert monkey suggests that mechanisms which produce orientation constancy with respect to the direction of gravity are implemented at an early stage of cortical processing.
Abstract: We studied the effect of body tilt on the orientation selectivity of single neurons in the visual cortex of an alert monkey. The monkey performed a visual fixation task either in the upright position or with its whole body tilted about the naso-occipital (roll) axis by ±25° or ±30°. We determined the preferred stimulus orientation for 51 of 117 neurons in two or, if possible, three body positions (i.e. with the whole body upright, and tilted either left ear or right ear down). In striate cortex, most of the neurons were of a non-compensatory type, showing a change in the preferred orientation according to the body tilt and the estimated counterrolling of the eye. By contrast, about 40% of the neurons in prestriate cortex were of a compensatory type, preferring similar orientations in all body positions. This suggests that mechanisms which produce orientation constancy with respect to the direction of gravity are implemented at an early stage of cortical processing.
TL;DR: The authors argued that a primary function of attention in humans is to create propositions by assigning truth values to predicates, and they identified the attentional processes necessary to support propositional representations.
Abstract: This article presents an argument that a primary function of attention in humans is to support cognition. Abundant evidence from cognitive science suggests that human cognition depends on “propositional representations”. Propositions consist of compositional representations called predicates, and truth values. A primary function of attention, from a cognitive perspective, is to create propositions by assigning truth values to predicates. The attentional processes necessary to support propositional representations are identified and the implications for current and future theoretical and empirical approaches to attention are discussed.
TL;DR: For instance, this paper found that 6-and 7-month-olds familiar with stimuli depicting a diamond in different locations between two reference bars subsequently preferred a stimulus displaying the diamond located outside the bars over a stimulus presenting the diamond positioned in a novel position between the bars.
Abstract: Three experiments were conducted to examine whether human infants would form a categorical representation for the spatial relation between. Experiment 1 showed that 6- and 7-month-olds familiarized with stimuli depicting a diamond in different locations between two reference bars subsequently preferred a stimulus displaying the diamond located outside the bars over a stimulus displaying the diamond located in a novel position between the bars. Experiments 2 and 3 revealed that this preference could not be attributed to a failure to discriminate the location changes of the diamond between the bars or an a priori preference. The overall pattern of results indicates that 6- and 7-month-olds had formed a categorical representation for between. The findings are discussed in terms of factors affecting development of categorical representations for spatial relation information.
TL;DR: The authors showed that both inhibition of a defining feature of identity and a reported feature of location are stable across the life span, suggesting developmentally impaired inhibitory processing, which may be explained by inhibitory processes (e.g. Tipper, 1985).
Abstract: Negative priming paradigms examine selective attention, and may be explained by inhibitory processes (e.g. Tipper, 1985). Our study examines inhibition in children (6-11 years), younger adults (18-22 years), and older adults (60-82 years). Younger adults show inhibition to the reported feature of a stimulus (location or identity) (Milliken, Tipper, & Weaver, 1994) and to the defining feature of a stimulus (identity or colour) (Simone, Carlisle, & McCormick, 1998). Neither children (Tipper, Bourque, Anderson, & Brehaut, 1989) nor older adults (Connelly & Hasher, 1993) have consistently shown significant inhibition to the reported feature of identity, suggesting developmentally impaired inhibitory processing. Our current study demonstrates that both inhibition of a defining feature of identity and a reported feature of location are stable across the life span.
TL;DR: This work investigated whether certain regions of such a contour are perceptually more relevant than others, using a deletion detection paradigm, and found M+ deletions were easier to detect than the deletions around the other two singularities, a result that is explained using a post hoc combination of both mentioned theoretical frameworks.
Abstract: Line drawings are easy to recognize, although the only information to the visual system is the contour itself. Starting from information theory and a theory of decomposition in parts, we investigated whether certain regions of such a contour are perceptually more relevant than others, using a deletion detection paradigm. In this paradigm, high detectability means poor contour integration, and vice versa. Regions of interest were curvature singularities, namely positive maxima (M+), negative minima (m−) and inflection points (I), of smooth, closed contours. In Experiment 1, we performed a first exploration of the detectability of deletions around these three types of curvature singularities. M+ deletions were easier to detect than the deletions around the other two singularities, a result that is explained using a post hoc combination of both mentioned theoretical frameworks. In Experiment 2, we replicated these findings using figure-background reversal, so thatthe same physical deletions could either be M...
TL;DR: This article showed that lorazepam improves detection of discontinuities and impaired integration for collinear elements, which supports the hypothesis that line-ends are coded by end-stopped cells and that GABA is involved in the generation of endstopped cell responses.
Abstract: Recent work is presented to suggest that lorazepam (a benzodiazepine), enhancing the inhibitory effect of GABAA, might be a useful tool to investigate visuo-perceptual integration processes and to link experimental psychology and electrophysiology. Previous results, obtained with drawings and letters, suggested that lorazepam enhances the processing of line-ends. These results are generalized to simpler stimuli. In Experiment 1, subjects had to detect the presence of corners in fragmented squares. In Experiment2, they had to discriminate between continuous and discontinuous stimuli. In both experiments, elements were either collinear or parallel. The results suggested that lorazepam improved detection of discontinuities and impaired integration for collinear elements. These results sustain the hypothesis that lorazepam enhances responses to line-ends. They are related to studies suggesting that line-ends are coded by end-stopped cells and that GABA is involved in the generation of end-stopped cell responses.
TL;DR: In this paper, Biederman and Gerhardstein (1993) and Srinivas (1995) tested whether different representations are necessary to describe explicit and implicit memory performance for depth-rotated solid objects in the mere exposure paradigm.
Abstract: Following Biederman and Gerhardstein (1993) and Srinivas (1995), we tested whether different representations are necessary to describe explicit and implicit memory performance for depth-rotated solid objects in the mere exposure paradigm. Subjects were presented with novel three-dimensional objects, followed by an explicit recognition memory or an implicit affective preference test. In Experiment 1, recognition memory but not affective preference was impaired by an 80° depth rotation of the objects between study and test. In Experiment 2, when subjects had to discriminate between 0° and 80° views of previously studied objects, recognition memory was greater than chance but affective performance was not. These findings imply that the representations used for recognition memory coded depth orientation information, whereas those used for affective preference did not. The results are discussed in terms of viewpoint-specific and viewpoint-invariant representations for explicit and implicit memory.
TL;DR: For instance, the authors found that most participants reported spontaneously visualizing pennies prior to perceptual recognition if they had recently viewed them and were asked to visualize a particular one; however, if imagery was discouraged, they performed poorly when recognizing the profiles perceptually.
Abstract: Eight experiments were conducted to determine whether visual mental imagery preserves left-right orientation in conditions where recognition memory apparently does not. Such a dissociation would suggest that information in memory preserves left-right orientation, but the process that matches input to such representations does not respect this distinction. In the experiments reported here, participants were asked to use one of two methods to indicate which way Abraham Lincoln faces on a US penny: Either they selected the correct profile from two sketches, or they formed a mental image and then specified the direction. If participants had just viewed pennies and were asked to visualize a particular one, they performed far better than chance; in contrast, if imagery was discouraged, they performed poorly when recognizing the profiles perceptually. However, unless actively discouraged from doing so, most participants reported spontaneously visualizing pennies prior to perceptual recognition if they had recent...
TL;DR: In this article, a review of motion integration, segmentation, and selection is presented to assess the ability of human to link sparse motion information, and it is shown that human motion perception strongly depends on both primitive stimulus characteristics, such as contrast, eccentricity, and duration, as well as higher level characteristics such as feature classification and spatial configurations.
Abstract: Recovering a reliable 3D percept from the retinal sampling of dynamic images requires the linkage of motion signals across space and time. In this paper, we review recent experimental results that enhance our understanding of the perceptual processes of motion integration, segmentation, and selection that are necessary to solve this inverse optics problem. Simple paradigms involving the presentation of moving contours are used to assess our ability to link sparse motion information. Our results indicate that human motion perception strongly depends on both primitive stimulus characteristics, such as contrast, eccentricity, and duration, as well as higher level characteristics such as feature classification and spatial configurations. Further, the perceived direction of a moving object depends little upon its familiarity. Finally, pursuit eye movements of compositional stimuli are highly correlated with perceived motion coherence. This ensemble of results is analysed within the context of current theories of motion perception.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effects of practice on search among the moving and stationary subset of items, and the results suggest that the effect of practice is only early during task performance, due to participants having difficulty keeping the moving items out of the search.
Abstract: Visual search for some motion-form conjunctions can be performed in parallel. Yet, if the target is easy to discriminate from the nontargets (target line tilted 45 from the vertical), search can be easier for a moving than for a stationary target. Driver and McLeod (1992; Berger & McLeod, 1996) took this asymmetry to argue that gross aspects of form discrimination are performed within a motion filter thatrepresents only the moving items, whereas discrimination of stationary items (and all fine discrimination) relies on a static form system. However, recent (unsuccessful) attempts to replicate the asymmetry (Muller & Found, 1996; Muller & Maxwell, 1994) suggested that it may occur only early during task performance, due to participants having difficulty keeping the moving items out of the search for a stationary target (but not vice versa). This was confirmed by the present study, which investigated the effects of practice on search among the moving and stationary subset of items. The results suggest that ...
TL;DR: This article showed that afferent dysgraphia does not result from an impairment of vision and kinaesthesis, or from an attentional deficit, but rather from a defective mechanism specific to handwriting, which computes afferent information to keep track of position in letter and stroke sequences.
Abstract: Afferent dysgraphia is an acquired writing deficit characterized by deletions and duplications of letters and strokes. The commonly accepted interpretation is that patients do not use visual and kinaesthetic input. In this paper, we describe a woman who, following right brain damage, made errors almost exclusively involving letters with repeated strokes. She was normal at a kinaesthetic recognition task and, like the control subjects, produced more errors when blindfolded. We conclude that afferent dysgraphia does not result neither from an impairment of vision and kinaesthesis, or from an attentional deficit. Rather, it results from a defective mechanism, specific to handwriting, which computes afferentinformation to keep track of position in letter and stroke sequences.
TL;DR: Neuropsychological and neurophysiological findings support the existence of multiple visual areas within the primate cortex that respond to primary features of objects and spatial locations and the necessity for an intact, explicit spatial representation is demonstrated.
Abstract: The “binding problem” is discussed with reference to feature integration and visual search. Neuropsychological and neurophysiological findings support the existence of multiple visual areas within the primate cortex that respond to primary features of objects and spatial locations. Evidence from studies with hemineglect and Balint’s syndrome supports the role of spatial attention in feature integration and demonstrates the necessity for an intact, explicit spatial representation. Some implicit spatial maps remain intact but are not sufficient to support the perception of properly bound features. The evidence suggests strong interactions between parietal spatial representations and temporal feature representations in feature integration.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the function of structural descriptions (SDs) during object identification, as revealed by immediate priming experiments and make several claims, including that SDs can changeynamically in complexity, from being detailed during initial identification to being somewhat abstract when processing is extended over time.
Abstract: The author discusses the function of structural descriptions (SDs) during object identification, as revealed by immediate priming experiments. Several claims are made. First, SDs can changedynamically in complexity, from being detailed during initial identification to being somewhatabstract when processing is extended over time, as during scene perception. Second, during initial identification SDs encode relations between components, including somewhat detailed size relations. Third, identification is a process in which SDs are constructed over time. In new experiments that are reported, construction (identification) was facilitated by primes that provided a higher-order structural relation- orientation of axis or reference frame. These effects varied with the orientation of the critical features. The results were inconsistent with an alternative explanation of facilitation effects in terms of feature suppression.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate visual integration across space using a saccade selection paradigm, where subjects saccaded to a vertical target in the presence of a number of horizontal distractor items.
Abstract: Three experiments are described that investigate visual integration across space using a saccade selection paradigm. Subjects saccaded to a vertical target in the presence of a number of horizontal distractor items. Both horizontal and vertical items were composed of two identical elements, so, in order to locate the target, subjects had to integrate the pairs of elements together. We measured saccade accuracy, the proportion of saccades directed to the vertical target, together with saccade latency following display appearance. In Experiment 1 we found that saccade accuracy was improved by the items having either common surface properties or collinear edges. These effects were not a resultof increased display heterogeneity (Experiment 2), or a result of the introduction of a strong internal contour between the items (Experiment 3). These results show that for saccadic selection both surface and edge properties of items are processed. This in turn suggests thatearly visual processing encodes and exploits ...
TL;DR: The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources as mentioned in this paper. But they do not make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up-to-date.
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TL;DR: This article explored the visual system's ability to extract either of two superimposed motion components and to determine to what degree the presence of one motion component interferes with the extraction of the other component.
Abstract: The aims of the presentstudy were to explore the visual system's ability to extract either of two superimposed motion components and, in particular, to determine to what degree the presence of one motion component interferes with the extraction of the other component. Translation, rotation, deformation and radial motion were used as motion components in addition to random noise. The stimulus patterns consisted of 800 dots (i.e. 400 dots for each constituent motion component) and were shown under eight different exposure times, from 150 to 500 msec. The results show that, whereas noise does not interfere with the extraction of any of the motion components, in all cases the superimposition of a second motion component always interferes with the extraction of the first motion component. An analysis showed that different combinations of the four motions yield compound motions with varying degrees of common fate. The greater the area of common fate in a compound motion, the greater the interference effect. We ...