What is the unit of visual attention? Object for selection, but Boolean map for access

Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
Liqiang Huang

Abstract

In the past 20 years, numerous theories and findings have suggested that the unit of visual attention is the object. In this study, I first clarify 2 different meanings of unit of visual attention, namely the unit of access in the sense of measurement and the unit of selection in the sense of division. In accordance with this distinction, I argue that an object, as commonly described, is only the unit of selection. The unit of access is better characterized as a Boolean map (Huang & Pashler, 2007), that is, the linkage of a single feature value per dimension associated with a map (i.e., a set of locations). The experiments in this study demonstrated the following: (a) Grouping items into a single object (by connecting them) does not improve the perception of these items (Experiment 1); (b) same-object advantage exists only when the features to be perceived are different dimensions of a single Boolean map and not when they belong to different parts of an object (Experiments 2 and 3); (c) cuing the relevant feature does not help perception when the features to be perceived are different dimensions of a single Boolean map but does help significantly when these features belong to different parts of an object (Experiment 4); and (d)...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 18, 2014·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·V R SalmelaK Alho
May 25, 2013·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Dwight J Peterson, Marian E Berryhill
Jan 12, 2011·Visual Cognition·Geoffrey F Woodman, Shaun P Vecera
Dec 20, 2012·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience·Mowei ShenZaifeng Gao
Mar 14, 2019·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Xiqian LuMowei Shen
Jul 18, 2014·Memory & Cognition·Richard J AllenAlan D Baddeley
Feb 18, 2011·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Liqiang Huang
Sep 29, 2019·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience·Nick Berggren, Martin Eimer
Jul 4, 2018·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Sibel AkyuzJennifer E Corbett
Jun 12, 2016·Animal Cognition·Chiara SantolinGiorgio Vallortigara
Dec 8, 2016·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Zaifeng GaoMowei Shen
Nov 24, 2019·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Liqiang Huang
May 5, 2021·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Zhe Chen, Makayla Szu-Yu Chen

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