Stimules configuration in selective attention tasks

Pomerantz, James R.; Garner, W. R.

doi:10.3758/bf03211198

Cited by 158 publications

(176 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…One of the classic paradigms involving speeded perceptual classification performance is the set of converging tests introduced by Garner and his colleagues for distinguishing between integral and separable dimensions (Garner, 1974(Garner, , 1976Garner & Felfoldy, 1970;Gottwald & Garner, 1975;Pomerantz & Garner, 1973). The set-up of the paradigm is illustrated schematically in Figure 12.…”

Section: Experiments 3: Modeling Performance In Garner's (1974) Speedementioning

confidence: 99%

An exemplar-based random walk model of speeded classification.

Nosofsky¹,

Palmeri²

1997

Psychological Review

689

984

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The authors propose and test an exemplar-based random walk model for predicting response times in tasks of speeded, multidimensional perceptual classification. The model combines elements of R.M. Nosofsky's (1986) generalized context model of categorization and G. D. Logan's (1988) instance-based model of automaticity. In the model, exemplars race among one another to be retrieved from memory, with rates determined by their similarity to test items. The retrieved exemplars provide incremental information that enters into a random walk process for making classification decisions. The model predicts correctly effects of within-and between-categories similarity, individual-object familiarity, and extended practice on classification response times. It also builds bridges between the domains of categorization and automaticity.Models of multidimensional perceptual classification have grown increasingly powerful and sophisticated in recent years, providing detailed quantitative accounts of patterns of classification learning, transfer, and generalization (e.g., Anderson, 1991;Ashby, 1992;Estes, 1986Estes, , 1994Nosofsky, 1992b;Shanks & Gluck, 1994). However, a fundamental limitation of all the major competing models in the field today is that they offer no processing account of the time course of classification. Because response times provide a window into understanding the nature of cognitive representations and decision processes, it is vital to move in the direction of models that account for this form of data. In this article we propose and test a process-oriented model for predicting response times in tasks of speeded perceptual classification.Our proposed model follows in the spirit of some leading extant models of categorization by assuming that people represent categories in terms of stored exemplars (Hintzman, 1986;Medin & Schaffer, 1978;Nosofsky, 1986). Classification decisions are made by retrieving these stored exemplars from memory. In the newly proposed model, retrieved exemplars are used to drive a random walk process (e.g., Luce, 1986;Townsend & Ashby, 1983) in which evidence accrues to alternative categories over time. Random-walk models have been successful at accounting for performance in tasks of memory, decision making, sensory discrimination, and unidimensional absolute judgment (e.g., Busemeyer, 1985; Karpiuk, Lacouture, & Marley, in press; This work was supported by Grant PHS RO1 MH48494-05 from the National Institute of Mental Health.Jerome Busemeyer, A. A. J. Marley, Richard Shiffrin, and James Townsend provided extensive commentary and discussion. We also wish to thank John Anderson, Rob Goldstone, John Kruschke, Roger Ratcliff, Roger Shepard, and Trisha van Zandt for their comments, discussion, and advice.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Robert M. Nosofsky, Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405; or to Thomas J. Palmeri, Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37240. Electronic mail may be sent vi...

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Section: Experiments 3: Modeling Performance In Garner's (1974) Speedementioning

confidence: 99%

An exemplar-based random walk model of speeded classification.

Nosofsky¹,

Palmeri²

1997

Psychological Review

689

984

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…of perceptual organization. Pomerantz and Garner (1973) argued that if organization is more than an epiphenomenon. there…”

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confidence: 99%

“…of perceptual organization. Pomerantz and Garner (1973) argued that if organization is more than an epiphenomenon. there should bc consequences of such" organization in the performance of visual information processing tasks.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Grouping by proximity: Selective attention measures

Pomerantz

Schwaitzberg

1975

Perception & Psychophysics

Self Cite

105

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The role of element proximity in perceptual grouping was examined in tasks requmng speeded discrimination of two-element visual patterns. Grouping of two elements was defined as the failure of attention to be focused on one element selectively in filtering tasks where only that one element was relevant to the discrimination. Failure of selective attention was measured by the degree of interference caused by variation of the irrelevant element. Grouping was shown to diminish monotonically as the spacing between two elements was increased. At a given spacing, grouping could be reduced or eliminated by the introduction of a third element into the stimulus field, presumably because the addition of this element triggered a reorganization of the perceptual field into a new grouping structure. Grouping appeared to facilitate performance on condensation tasks requiring distributed attention, to the degree that the condensation tasks were actually easier than the filtering tasks at close proximities. Paradoxically, for some tasks, moving an irrelevant element away from a relevant one actually impaired performance, suggesting that paying attention to irrelevant information could be beneficial. This result, if generalizable, suggests that grouping be conceptualized not as an automatic process under preattentive control but as an optional process under strategic control. This paper is concerned with two aspects of the problem 01 perceptual organization of visual arrays (Wertheimer, 1923). The first is the degree to which perceptual organization is under the control of specitic parameters of the stimulus array, as opposed to cognitive (strategic) factors within the observer. The second is the establishment of experimental measures of organizational processes. This latter issue is much more than simply a methodological one, for in order to measure organization a theory is required that explains just what organization means, and how and where organization enters into the processing of perceptual information.The Gestalt "laws" of course represented an attempt to answer the first question. Certain stimulus variables. some well defined (proximity) and some not so well defined (similarity), can be shown to have clear effects on the wayan observer reports his perception of stimulus arrays. The conclusions one can draw from these demonstrations. as compelling as the perceptual effects may be, are limited, however. to the domain of phenomenology and say little about the underlying processes that shape our perceptual experiences. What is required are performance measures. rather than subjective reports. of perceptual organization. Pomerantz and Garner (1973) argued that if organization is more than an epiphenomenon. there

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“…3 Discussion of a third empirical signature, discovered between certain geometric dimensions by Pomerantz and his colleagues (e.g., Pomerantz & Garner, 1973;Pomerantz & Schwaitzberg, 1975), is beyond the scope of this article. ing either the left key or the fight key of an Amiga dual-key mouse (response assignment counterbalanced).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the nature of interactions between the past and the present.

Melara¹,

Nairne²

1991

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

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We conceptualize the past and the present as dimensions of experience and ask whether past processing must affect decisions about the present and whether present processing must affect decisions about the past. The paradigm is speeded classification: Ss classified a stimulus's past spatial position and tried to ignore information about present position (Experiments 1-4), or classified present position, while attempting to ignore past position (Experiments 5-6). We found that in classifying the past, Ss were unable to ignore present position, unless it was processed apart from the retrieval cue. In classifying the present, subjects could ignore past position completely. We conclude that a processing asymmetry exists, reflecting perhaps a logical asymmetry in the information required to make past or present decisions.

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Stimules configuration in selective attention tasks

Cited by 158 publications

References 10 publications

An exemplar-based random walk model of speeded classification.

An exemplar-based random walk model of speeded classification.

Grouping by proximity: Selective attention measures

On the nature of interactions between the past and the present.

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