Short-term conceptual memory for pictures.

Abstract

Three converging procedures were used to determine whether pictures presented in a rapid sequence at rates comparable to eye fixations are understood and then quickly forgotten. In two experiments, sequences of 16 color photographs were presented at rates of 113, 167, 250, or 333 msec per picture. In one group, subjects were given an immediate test of recognition memory for the pictures and in other groups they searched for a target picture. Even when the target had only been specified by a title (e..g., a boat) detection of a target was strikingly superior to recognition memory. Detection was slightly but significantly better for pictured than named targets. In a third experiment pictures were presented for 50, 70, 90, or 120 msec preceded and followed by a visual mask; at 120 msec recognition memory was as accurate as detection had been. The results, taken together with those in 1969 of Potter and Levy for slower rates of sequential presentation, suggest that on the average a scene is understood and so becomes immune to ordinary visual masking within about 100 msec but requires about 300 msec of further processing before the memory representation is resistant to conceptual masking from a following picture. Possible functions of a short-term conceptual memory, such as the control of eye fixations, are discussed. This research was supported by grants from procedure in which the subject responds at the National Institute of Mental Health to the the tjme of view i ng In an earlier experiauthor (MH-13988-01) and by Grant and Spencer \cp n n er 107^ cnhiprt, o Pa rrrw>r1 fnr Foundation grants to H. L. Teuber. The assistance ment [(hotter, iy/5) subjects searched lor of Miriam I. Williams, Toby Caplin, and Barbara a target picture m a sequence and responded Faulconer is gratefully acknowledged. as soon as they saw it. Some subjects were Requests for reprints should be sent to Mary C. shown the target picture itself in advance MaShuferiSteof -JS^'c^ZSZ, ^d others ™* «*« °^ a brief title for Massachusetts 02139.the picture (e.g., a baby reaching for a

Transsaccadic representation of layout: What is the time course of boundary extension?

“…In addition, in all three experiments, BE occurred for pictures that appeared in serial positions 1 and 2, suggesting that conceptual masking-the immediate onset of new, meaningful visual information-does not eliminate boundary extension (Intraub, 1984(Intraub, , 1999Potter, 1976Potter, , 1999.…”

“…It revealed no main effect of the masked interval's duration, F(3, 140) = 1.16, n.s., no effect of serial position, F < 1, and no interaction, F < 1. The lack of a serial position effect shows that the onset of new meaningful pictures during RSVP did not disrupt incorporation of the extrapolated region into the spatial representation of the scenes-that is, there was no effect of conceptual masking (Intraub, 1984;Potter, 1976). Figure 3 (right panel) shows the mean boundary rating as a function of the spatial location of the test picture for each masked interval (collapsed over serial position).…”

“…in serial positions 1 and 2 showed that BE was not eliminated by the onset of new pictures (i.e., conceptual masking; Potter, 1976 …”

The Neural-Cognitive Basis of the Jamesian Stream of Thought

“…Even when many different visual stimuli are presented in very rapid sequence, they can be identified and their meaning extracted (Thorpe et al, 1996, Potter 1975. However, entry of this information into awareness appears to be a much slower process that can easily be overloaded (Potter, 1976). This serial, capacity-limited process can be dissociated from the more parallel processes that subserve recognition (Marcel, 1983).…”

Diagnostic Colors Mediate Scene Recognition

“…However, this depiction does not account for all situations of recognition. Scenes are often recognized very quickly, in a single glance-in fact, as fast as a single component object (Biederman, Mezzanotte, & Rabinowitz, 1982;Friedman, 1979;Intraub, 1997;Potter, 1976). Under these conditions, it has been shown that visual information could mediate scene recognition without the prior and necessary recognition of component objects (Schyns & Oliva, 1994).…”