Can the Comparisons of Feature Locations Explain the Difficulty in Discriminating Mirror-Reflected Pairs of Geometrical Figures from Disoriented Identical Pairs?

2018

Jpn Psychol Res

Self Cite

I examined whether the lack of a difference in line lengths made the discrimination of axisymmetric (Ax) pairs of figures from disoriented identical (Idr) pairs difficult. Three basic pair types were prepared: Idr, Ax, and nonidentical/nonaxisymmetric (Nd) pairs. To avoid confusion arising from structural differences, all pairs of figures were set to be mutually isomorphic. Two figures of a pair were controlled to have the same line lengths of respective figural components (Experiment 1) or the same lengths of individual line segments (Experiment 2) in experiments where participants decided if the figures were the same/different. Experiment 1 showed longer latencies for Ax pairs than for Nd pairs, indicating that these feature values alone did not cause difficulty in discrimination. Experiment 2 showed that only Nd pairs with all line segments having the same lengths for the two figures had the same latencies as Ax pairs. The sameness of individual line segments in simple pairs of figures made discrimination difficult.

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As it is impossible to unambiguously define shapes, shapes were also not taken as a target feature. Kanbe (2015) focused on the role of shifts as the cause of difficulty in discriminating Ax pairs from Idr pairs. Here, the angular distances of corresponding invariant feature locations between the two figures of a pair are called shifts.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Line Lengths Critical to the Discrimination of Axisymmetric Pairs of Figures from Disoriented Identical Pairs?

2018

Jpn Psychol Res

Self Cite

“…The latencies required to discriminate non-identical, non-axisymmetric (Nd) pairs are generally shorter than the latencies required to identify Idr pairs [16][17][18][19]. This phenomenon could be interpreted as indicating that feature values of an Nd pair of figures are more varied compared with those of an Idr pair, and their value differences would be readily available in cases where the decision "different" is made.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, it has been reported that detection of a difference in invariant feature values is Symmetry 2019, 11, 624 3 of 14 prioritized compared with detection of a difference in superficial feature values [17,20]. Although Ax pairs are a special case of Nd pairs, the latencies for Ax pairs tend to be longer than those for Idr pairs [18,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In an earlier study by the author [18], it was presumed that complex shifting patterns of locations caused the discrimination of the two figures of an Ax pair to be difficult. Specifically, it was hypothesized that discrimination latencies of Nd pairs would become similar to those of Ax pairs when both types of pairs had the same extent of complexity in the shifting pattern of invariant feature locations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is Handedness Information Critical for Discriminating Figure Pairs?

2019

Symmetry

Self Cite

Mirror-reflected or axisymmetric (Ax) pairs of figures are known to be difficult to discriminate. If non-identical pairs of figures with specific feature values impede discrimination to the same extent as the discrimination of Ax pairs, the feature values concerned would be expected to cause discrimination difficulty and may be critical for figure recognition in general. In the present study, we examined whether handedness information (i.e., the left or right side of a disoriented figure) is critical for the discrimination of figure pairs with pairs of complex figures (Experiment 1) and simpler figures (Experiment 2). Participants performed a task requiring discrimination of whether the figures in a pair had the same shape regardless of orientation. Three basic pair types were prepared: identically shaped pairs, Ax pairs, and non-identical, non-axisymmetric (Nd) pairs. Non-axisymmetric pairs were further classified into same-handedness pairs and opposite-handedness pairs. The results revealed that discrimination latencies were longer for Ax pairs than for both same-handedness pairs and opposite-handedness pairs. These findings suggest that handedness information is not a critical feature in figure recognition.

Topological Sensitivity in the Recognition of Disoriented Figures

2018

i-Perception

Self Cite

A previous study by the author found that discrimination latencies for figure pairs with the same topological structure (isomorphic pairs) were longer than for pairs with different topological structures (nonisomorphic pairs). These results suggest that topological sensitivity occurs during figure recognition. However, sameness was judged in terms of both shape and orientation. Using this criterion, faster discrimination of nonisomorphic pairs may have arisen from the detection of differences in the corresponding locations of the paired figures, which is not a topological property. The current study examined whether topological sensitivity occurs even when identity judgments are based on the sameness of shapes, irrespective of their orientation, where the sameness of location is not ensured. The current results suggested the involvement of topological sensitivity, indicating that processing of structural properties (invariant features) of a figure may be prioritized over processing of superficial features, such as location, length, and angles, in figure recognition.