Perceptual grouping and attention in visual search for features and for objects.

Abstract

This article explores the effects of perceptual grouping on search for targets defined by separate features or by conjunction of features. Treisman and Gelade proposed a feature-integration theory of attention, which claims that in the absence of prior knowledge, the separable features of objects are correctly combined only when focused attention is directed to each item in turn. If items are preattentively grouped, however, attention may be directed to groups rather than to single items whenever no recombination of features within a group could generate an illusory target. This prediction is confirmed: In search for conjunctions, subjects appear to scan serially between groups rather than items. The scanning rate shows little effect of the spatial density of distractors, suggesting that it reflects serial fixations of attention rather than eye movements. Search for features, on the other hand, appears to independent of perceptual grouping, suggesting that features are detected preattentively. A conjunction target can be camouflaged at the preattentive level by placing it at the boundary between two adjacent groups, each of which shares one of its features. This suggests that preattentive grouping creates separate feature maps within each separable dimension rather than one global configuration.

Cites (1)

1. Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending, and a general theory
   Shiffrin, Richard M., Schneider, Walter · 1977 · Psychological Review

Show all 1 references

Cited by (20)

1. Recognition-by-components: A theory of human image understanding.
   Biederman, Irving · 1987 · Psychological Review
2. Bottom-Up and Top-Down Attention for Image Captioning and Visual Question Answering
   Anderson, Peter, He, Xiaodong, Buehler, Chris, Teney, Damien, Johnson, Mark, Gould, Stephen, Zhang, Lei · 2018 · 2018 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
3. Neuronal Synchrony: A Versatile Code for the Definition of Relations?
   Singer, Wolf · 1999 · Neuron
4. Focal attention produces spatially selective processing in visual cortical areas V1, V2, and V4 in the presence of competing stimuli
   Motter, B. C. · 1993 · Journal of Neurophysiology
5. The acute effects of corticosteroids on cognition: integration of animal and human model studies
   LUPIEN, S, MCEWEN, B · 1997 · Brain Research Reviews

See all 907