Perception of objects in natural scenes: is it really attention free?

Karla K Evans, Anne Treisman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Studies have suggested attention-free semantic processing of natural scenes in which concurrent tasks leave category detection unimpaired (e.g., F. Li, R. VanRullen, C. Koch, & P. Perona, 2002). Could this ability reflect detection of disjunctive feature sets rather than high-level binding? Participants detected an animal target in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) sequence and then reported its identity and location. They frequently failed to identify or to localize targets that they had correctly detected, suggesting that detection was based only on partial processing. Detection of targets was considerably worse in sequences that also contained humans, presumably because of shared features. When 2 targets were presented in RSVP, a prolonged attentional blink appeared that was almost eliminated when both targets were detected without being identified. The results suggest rapid feature analysis mediating detection, followed by attention-demanding binding for identification and localization.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1476-92
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
Volume31
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2005

Bibliographical note

(c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Attention
  • Environment
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Semantics
  • Visual Perception

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