Independent sampling of features enables conscious perception of bound objects

Psychological Science
Edward Vul, Anina N Rich

Abstract

Decades of research suggest that selective attention is critical for binding the features of objects together for conscious perception. A fundamental question, however, remains unresolved: How do people perceive objects, albeit with binding errors (illusory conjunctions), when attentional resolution is poor? We used a novel technique to investigate how features are selected to create percepts of bound objects. We measured the correlation of errors (intrusions) in color and identity reports in spatial and temporal selection tasks under conditions of varying spatial or temporal uncertainty. Our findings suggest that attention selects each feature independently by randomly sampling from a probability distribution over space or time. Thus, veridical perception of bound object features arises only when attentional selection is sufficiently precise that the independently sampled features originate from a single object.

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Citations

Nov 13, 2012·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Paolo Martini
Mar 19, 2014·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Garrett Swan, Brad Wyble
Feb 5, 2011·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·George A Alvarez
Jan 29, 2014·Cognitive Science·Edward VulJoshua B Tenenbaum
Oct 24, 2014·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Dragan Rangelov, Semir Zeki
Aug 14, 2013·Psychological Science·Gi Yeul Bae, Jonathan I Flombaum
Oct 9, 2018·British Journal of Psychology·Sebastian Schneegans, Paul M Bays
Jan 30, 2019·Psychological Science·Emma Wu Dowd, Julie D Golomb
Sep 19, 2019·Psychological Science·Amit YasharMarisa Carrasco
Oct 28, 2019·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Edward VulAnina N Rich
Dec 7, 2019·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Josephine ReutherAmelia R Hunt
Jun 7, 2017·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Piers D L Howe
Jun 5, 2019·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Emma Wu Dowd, Julie D Golomb
Dec 30, 2020·Journal of Vision·Endel Põder

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