Can two dots form a Gestalt? Measuring emergent features with the capacity coefficient

Hawkins, Robert X. D.; Houpt, Joseph W.; Eidels, Ami; Townsend, James T.

doi:10.1016/j.visres.2015.04.019

Cited by 15 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…But if that is true, then, how and when do they differ? Relying only on discrimination accuracies, reaction times and processing capacity 8 , 21 has not allowed us to answer this question so far. Experimental phenomenology 22 also does not seem to suffice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Signatures of the Configural Superiority Effect and Fundamental Emergent Features in Human Vision

Costa

Orsten-Hooge

Rêgo

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The concepts of grouping, emergence, and superadditivity (when a whole is qualitatively different from the sum of its parts) are critical in Gestalt psychology and essential to properly understand the information processing mechanisms underlying visual perception. However, very little is known about the neural processes behind these phenomena (particularly in terms of their generality vs. specificity and their time-course). Here, we used the configural superiority effect as a way to define “emergence” and “emergent features” operationally, employing an approach that can isolate different emergent features and compare them on a common scale. By assessing well-established event related potentials in a HD-EEG system, we found that the critical processes behind configural superiority and superadditive Gestalt phenomena are present in the window between 100 and 200 ms after stimulus onset and that these effects seem to be driven by specific attentional selection mechanisms. Also, some emergent features seem to be differentially processed in different brain hemispheres. These results shed new light on the issues of the generality vs. specificity of the neural correlates of different Gestalt principles, the hemispheric asymmetries in the processing of hierarchical image structure and the role of the N1 ERP component in reflecting feature selective mechanisms.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Signatures of the Configural Superiority Effect and Fundamental Emergent Features in Human Vision

Costa

Orsten-Hooge

Rêgo

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…. For example, Garner and Felfoldy (1970) have shown that dots separated in space but arranged in a Bgood configural formâ re processed as integral dimensions (see also Hawkins, Houpt, Eidels, & Townsend, 2016). Fitousi and Algom (2006) have shown that numerical Stroop dimensions that are separated in space interfere with each other (see also Kahneman & Chajczyk, 1983).…”

Section: Qualitative Model Predictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can we perceive two colors at the same time? A direct test of Huang and Pashler’s (2007) Boolean map theory of visual attention

Fitousi

2019

Atten Percept Psychophys

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Can observers access two spatially separated color targets (e.g., red and green) at the same time (i.e., in parallel)? According to the Boolean map theory of visual attention (Huang & Pashler, Psychological Review, 114(3), 599-631, 2007), access to two different features that belong to the same dimension (e.g., red and green targets) is limited and therefore can be held only in a serial fashion. The current study proposes a strong test of the Boolean map theory of attention through the application of two of the most rigorous stochastic approaches to response times modeling-the system factorial technology (Townsend & Nozawa, 1995) and the logical rule models (Fifić, Little, & Nosofsky, Psychological Review, 117, 309-348, 2010). These approaches allowed identification of serial, parallel, and coactive architectures in the processing of multicolor targets. The results showed that multiple-color targets are processed serially when observers are required to process all the targets in the display (i.e., an exhaustive stopping rule), and in parallel or coactively when observers can terminate the search when one of the targets is found (i.e., self-terminating stopping rule). These results are generally inconsistent with predictions of the Boolean map theory. They highlight the role of stopping rules in multicolor visual search, as well as the flexibility of the attentional system in shifting between processing architectures.

show abstract

“…Deciding on the specific spatial arrangement of the dots in the stimulus display is complicated by two issues. First, increasing the number of dots in a display gives rise to new emergent features (Pomerantz & Portillo, 2011;Hawkins, Houpt, Eidels, & Townsend, 2016). For example, moving from a one dot-display to two dots adds not only an additional dot, but also new information concerning the relative position and distance between the two dots.…”

Section: The Language Of Numbersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cost of errors: confusion analysis and the mental representation of familiar and unfamiliar digits

Garrett¹,

Bennett²,

Howard³

et al. 2019

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

People express quantities using a remarkably small set of units – digits. Confusing digits could be costly, and not all confusions are equal; confusing a price tag of 2 dollars with 9 dollars is naturally more costly than confusing 2 with 3. Confusion patterns are intimately related to the distances between mental representations, which are hypothetical internal symbols said to stand for, or represent, ‘real’ external stimuli. The distance between the mental representations of two digits could be determined by their numerical distance. Alternatively, it could be driven by visual similarity. In an English speaking cohort, we investigated the mental representations of familiar and unfamiliar numbers (4 sets: Arabic, Chinese, Thai, and non-symbolic dots) through a set of identification experiments, using multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis. We controlled for undesired effects of response bias using Luce’s choice model. Our findings show Arabic, Chinese and Thai numerals were represented in the mental space by perceptual similarities. We also find non-symbolic dots were represented by perceptual and numerical similarities. This work is a novel contribution to the literature and lays the foundation for further investigations into the mental representation of numerals across cultures.

show abstract

Can two dots form a Gestalt? Measuring emergent features with the capacity coefficient

Cited by 15 publications

References 47 publications

Neural Signatures of the Configural Superiority Effect and Fundamental Emergent Features in Human Vision

Neural Signatures of the Configural Superiority Effect and Fundamental Emergent Features in Human Vision

Can we perceive two colors at the same time? A direct test of Huang and Pashler’s (2007) Boolean map theory of visual attention

The cost of errors: confusion analysis and the mental representation of familiar and unfamiliar digits

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About