Integrating pictorial information across eye movements.

Six experiments are reported dealing with the types of information integrated across eye movements (EMs) in picture perception. A line drawing of an object was presented in peripheral vision, and the 12 Ss (members of the university community) made an EM to it. During the saccade, the initially presented picture was replaced by another that the S was instructed to name as quickly as possible. The relation between the stimulus on the 1st fixation and the stimulus on the 2nd fixation was varied. Across experiments, there was about 100–230 msec facilitation when the pictures were identical compared with a control condition in which only the target location was specified on the 1st fixation. This finding implies that information about the 1st picture facilitated naming the 2nd picture. When the pictures represented the same concept (e.g., 2 pictures of a horse), there was a 90-msec facilitation effect that could have been the result of either the visual or conceptual similarity of the pictures. However, when the pictures had different names, only visual similarity produced facilitation; there appeared to be inhibition from the competing names. Results of all experiments are consistent with a model in which the activation of both the visual features and the name of the picture seen on the 1st fixation survive the saccade and combine with the information extracted on the 2nd fixation to produce identification and naming of the 2nd picture. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How much is an icon worth?

Reports a technique for assessing the amount of information extracted from the icon (image) that follows a briefly presented picture. How to measure such information was formulated in terms of how much physical exposure of a picture an icon is worth. In 4 experiments, undergraduates (N?=?414) were shown pictures, and their memory for the pictures was tested later. Results show that the physical exposure duration needed to reach a particular level of performance was approximately 100 msec longer when an icon was not permitted compared to when the icon was permitted. This value was independent of the base duration and the luminance of the picture. The same value was obtained using 3 kinds of memory tests and 4 sets of pictures. It is suggested that an icon is worth approximately 100 msec of additional physical exposure duration and that the reason for this robust equivalence between icon and stimulus is that the same encoding processes are responsible for extracting information from the icon and from the physical stimulus. Therefore, any variable that affects these encoding processes must affect extraction of information from the icon and the physical stimulus in an identical manner. This prediction was confirmed for 1 such variable—picture luminance. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A perceptual-economy account for the inverted-optimal viewing position effect.

In reading, fixation durations are longer when the eyes fall near the center of words than when fixation occurs toward the words' ends-the inverted-optimal viewing position (I-OVP) effect. This study assessed whether the I-OVP effect was based on the fixation position in the word or the fixation position in the visual stimulus. In Experiments 1-3, words were presented at variable locations within longer strings of symbols. On trials with short fixation durations, there were effects of fixation position in the string. When long fixations were made, there were effects of fixation position in the word. In Experiment 4, an I-OVP effect was found for meaningless number strings, and its strength depended on the task's processing demands. The findings show that (a) the I-OVP effect is unrelated to orthographic informativeness and (b) the eyes are not constrained to spend more time at the center of visual stimuli. These results support a perceptual-economy account: Fixations are held longer when the eyes are estimated to be at locations in words/stimuli in which greater amounts of information are anticipated. Implications for eye movements in reading are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of semantic consistency on eye movements during complex scene viewing.

Eye movements were recorded while participants viewed line-drawing pictures of natural scenes in preparation for a memory test (Experiment 1) or to find a target object (Experiment 2). Initial saccades in a scene were not controlled by semantic information in the visual periphery, although fixation densities and fixation durations were affected by semantic consistency. The results are compared with earlier eye-tracking studies, and a qualitative model of eye movement control in scene perception is discussed in which initial saccades in a scene are controlled by visual but not semantic analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cardiac and visual responses to stimuli presented both foveally and peripherally as a function of moving stimuli.

Measured heart rate (HR) and visual fixation responses as indices of attention getting (AG) and attention holding (AH) in 17 15-wk-old infants. The stimulus situation was one in which a brief central stimulus was followed by either a brief peripheral stimulus (AG trials) or a prolonged peripheral stimulus (AH trials). The stimuli for both central and peripheral presentations were moving black and white bar patterns. The speed for the central stimulus was constant over trials and groups (at 6.6°/sec), whereas the peripheral stimuli were either 6.6 or 26°/sec. Results suggest that much of the observed HR change can be accounted for by the AG phase, whereas the AH phase was reflected in the time it took for the cardiac responses to return to prestimulus baseline values. Stimulus speed also affected both attention behaviors; the faster speed produced the greatest HR change. Latency of 1st fixation and duration of looking measures did not show any discrimination between stimuli of different speeds. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cardiac and visual responses to moving stimuli presented either successively or simultaneously to the central and peripheral visual fields in 4-month-old infants.

Measured cardiac and visual orienting responses as indices of attention in 41 4-mo-old infants. Two stimulus situations were used. In the 1st situation, the presentation of a peripheral stimulus followed the offset of a central fixation stimulus. In the 2nd situation, the peripheral stimulus came on while the central fixation stimulus was on. Each stimulus comprised a horizontal black and white bar pattern. Corneal reflection was used to monitor infant gaze. The visual-response measure confirmed that with simultaneous presentation the probability of orienting to the peripheral stimulus decreased. The extent of this reduction was determined by the speed difference between the central and peripheral stimuli. The cardiac data indicate that on the trials in which the peripheral stimulus did not elicit lateral eye/head movements the stimulus was still being detected. Thus, cardiac change can reflect attentional processes without evidence of somatic orienting. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some temporal characteristics of processing during reading.

14 college students read passages displayed on a CRT as their eye movements were being monitored. During occasional fixations, all letters to the left of the directly fixated letter or all letters more than 4 to the right of the fixated letter were replaced by other letters. This replacement occurred either for only the 1st 100 msec of the fixation or only after the 1st 100 msec of the fixation. Eye movement data indicate that the eyes could respond to change in the visual stimulus within less than 100 msec and to orthographic irregularity in the test within less than 160 msec. No evidence was found for a left-to-right attentional scan during a fixation. Results are interpreted within the framework of a chronology of processing events occurring during a fixation in reading. Eye movement patterns and the determination of fixation durations are discussed. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fear and autonomic arousal.

32 female undergraduates were classified as having high fear (HF) or low fear (LF) of spiders. After reduction of orienting responses to pictures of neutral animals, experimental Ss were shown pictures of a spider, and control Ss were shown pictures of a snake. Using the response to the last neutral stimulus as a base line, HF experimental Ss when 1st shown a spider yielded greater GSRs than other groups. This increase in GSR responding for HF experimental Ss was, for 2 more trials, maintained relative to control Ss. HF experimental Ss also yielded GSRs of greater duration than all other groups when 1st shown the spider stimulus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification of objects in scenes: The role of scene background in object naming.

Research with brief presentations of scenes had indicated that scene context facilitates object identification. In the present experiments a paradigm was used in which an object in a scene is "wiggled," drawing both attention and an eye fixation to itself, and then named. Thus, the effect of scene context on object identification can be examined in a situation in which the target object is fixated and hence is fully visible. Exp 1 indicated that a scene background that was episodically consistent with a target object facilitated the speed of naming. In Exps 2 and 3, the time course of scene background information acquisition was investigated using display changes contingent on eye movements to the target object. The results from Exp 2 were inconclusive; however, Exp 3 demonstrated that scene background information present only on either the 1st or 2nd fixation on a scene significantly affected naming time. Thus, background information appears to be both extracted and able to affect object identification continuously during scene viewing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exceptions to Hick's law: Explorations with a response duration measure.

Conducted 5 experiments with 113 undergraduates, in which a new response-duration measure was used to explore the conditions necessary for confirmation of Hick's law, which states that reaction time (RT) increases logarithmically with number of choices. Exceptions to the law include the following conditions: a verbal response, a familiar stimulus with a single dominant name, and a large number of practice trials. These conditions have previously been used to account for the anamolous results. The present studies used none of these conditions and yet managed to replicate the anamolous result of a shallow slope across set size by using a novel task, in which the initial component of the response was the same for all stimuli (depression of a single response key) but the termination was different (different durations for each stimulus). Using this task, a slope of 15 msec per bit of stimulus uncertainty was found, as compared with the usual value of about 150 msec. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facial expressions as conditioned stimuli for electrodermal responses: A case of "preparedness"?

Converging data suggest that human facial behavior has an evolutionary basis. Combining these data with M. E. Seligman's (1970) preparedness theory, it was predicted that facial expressions of anger should be more readily associated with aversive events than should expressions of happiness. Two experiments involving differential electrodermal conditioning to pictures of faces, with electric shock as the unconditioned stimulus, were performed. In the 1st experiment, 32 undergraduates were exposed to 2 pictures of the same person, 1 with an angry and 1 with a happy expression. For half of the Ss, the shock followed the angry face, and for the other half, it followed the happy face. In the 2nd experiment, 3 groups of 48 undergraduates differentiated between pictures of male and female faces, both showing angry, neutral, and happy expressions. Responses to angry CSs showed significant resistance to extinction in both experiments, with a larger effect in Exp II. Responses to happy or neutral CSs, on the other hand, extinguished immediately when the shock was withheld. Results are related to conditioning to phobic stimuli and to the preparedness theory. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing of information in iconic memory: Differences between nonretarded and retarded subjects.

Compared iconic memory processes of 17 undergraduates and 18 retarded Ss (primarily aged 18–28 yrs; IQ 56–77) in 4 experiments. In Exp I, a partial report paradigm was used in which 6 retarded and 6 undergraduate Ss were presented 6 pictures under 4 intervals (0–500 msec). In Exp II, using 5 Ss in each group the same procedure as in Exp I was used but letters as well as pictures were included. Results show that although overall performance for retarded Ss was poor, they did better with letters than with pictures—a reverse of the finding with undergraduate Ss. In Exp III, 2 retarded Ss were given extended practice and incentive to perform well. Asymptote was reached in 10 days but never equaled performance of unpracticed undergraduates. In Exp IV, using 5 Ss in each group, information load was varied from 1 to 4 items, and a masking stimulus was used to interrupt processing following 6 intervals that lasted up to 250 msec. Results show that (1) there are quantitative differences between intelligence groups in iconic capacity; (2) retarded Ss process information more slowly, a difference that increases with increasing information load; and (3) there are substantive structural differences in iconic memory of retarded and nonretarded Ss. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Imagery and paired-associate learning.

In Exp. I with 20 undergraduates, the rate of paired-associate learning varied with the type of stimulus, from fastest to slowest: pictures (P), object names (ON), and category names (CN). The stimulus materials did not differ in meaningfulness, and ON had shorter imaginal latencies than CN. The ON-CN difference was replicated in Exp. II with 15 Ss, but presentation of the appropriate P together with an ON or CN on the 1st study trial did not facilitate acquisition of either list. Exp. III with 20 Ss involved the short-term retention of pairs. Using a measure of conditional recall (of responses, given stimulus recall), forgetting occurred over 18 sec., primarily in the 1st 3 sec., but was unaffected by the type of stimulus. The data led to a reevaluation of the conceptual peg hypothesis. (French summary) (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual processing and the use of redundant information in tachistoscopic recognition.

Examined the relation between information available in the stimulus and information required in report. 54 undergraduates in 3 groups reported on the basis of different attributes of 4 sets of visual stimuli varying in form of redundancy. Loss of information from conic memory was measured by means of a partial report procedure. The redundancy manipulation affected the level of accuracy and there was differential loss of stimulus information from iconic memory, depending on the stimulus attribute to be reported. There was, however, no relation between redundancy and loss of information. Results show that (a) the use of stimulus information plays an important role in accuracy, and (b) there are some basic differences in the way in which the visual system treats different categories of information. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Here is looking at you: Emotional faces predominate in binocular rivalry.

Two incompatible pictures compete for perceptual dominance when they are presented to one eye each. This so-called binocular rivalry results in an alternation of dominant and suppressed percepts. In accordance with current theories of emotion processing, the authors' previous research has suggested that emotionally arousing pictures predominate in this perceptual process. Three experiments were run with pictures of emotional facial expressions that are known to induce emotions while being well controlled in terms of physical characteristics. In Experiment 1, photographs of emotional and neutral facial expressions were presented of the same actor to minimize physical differences. In Experiment 2, schematic emotional expressions were presented to further eliminate low-level differences. In Experiment 3, a probe-detection task was conducted to control for possible response-biases. Together, these data clearly demonstrate that emotional facial expressions predominate over neutral expressions; they are more often the first percept and they are perceived for longer durations. This is not caused by physical stimulus properties or by response-biases. This novel approach supports that emotionally significant visual stimuli are preferentially perceived. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some boundary conditions for laterality effects in children.

Conducted 5 experiments with a total of 264 1st-4th graders and 63 undergraduates to investigate differences in the ability to report single stimuli tachistoscopically presented to the left or right of fixation. Age-independent preferences for materials on the right were found for pictures and words when Ss were required to discriminate, rather than identify, the target. Identification of common words elicited age differences in preference for material to the right, the effect occurring primarily for longer words. Results are discussed in terms of different levels in the visual system at which laterality effects may be elicited. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time perception and conflict arousal in schizophrenia.

The hypothesis that schizophrenics would exhibit greater distortion in estimation of duration time for stimuli relevant to their major conflicts than for other stimuli was investigated. 3 groups, each with 16 Ss who were homogeneous with respect to experiencing primary conflicts with either aggression, sex, or dependency, were formed. A factorial Latin square design was used in which Ss estimated stimuli durations following the tachistoscopic presentation at 4 exposure times of 4 pictorial stimuli, 1 of which represented their major conflict area. Results demonstrated that greatest distortions occurred for conflict pictures at the .001 level. Distortion elicitation of the aggression stimulus was greater than other stimuli at .001 for the combined schizophrenics, an effect not found with normal control Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of instructions and stimulus representation on selective learning in children.

Studied the effects of 2 types of incidental learning paradigms and the influence of different kinds of stimulus relationships on 168 1st and 6th graders' selective learning processes. Eight pairs of colored pictures were presented in each experimental condition. Incidental instructions were varied with respect to the absence vs presence of a concurrent intentional task. Within both instructional conditions, pairs of stimuli were either conceptually related, perceptually related, or unrelated. Free recall and pair retention were measured. Developmental similarities in selective learning processes were evidenced by younger and older children's equivalent patterns of stimulus selection. These patterns were significantly related to the type of incidental paradigm and stimulus relationship presented. Absolute amount of retention was positively related to age. It is concluded that patterns of stimulus selection and amount of learning reflect different processes and that both should serve as a criteria for developmentally studying selectivity. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of labelling-latency of pictures in associative learning of pictorial representations and their word labels.

Investigated whether the ease of naming pictorial representations facilitates the paired-associate learning of pictures and nouns. The stimuli which consisted of 8 pairs each of picture-pictures, picture-nouns, noun-pictures, and noun-nouns were presented to 46 undergraduates. Within each of these combinations, short- and long-label latencies were manipulated on both sides of the pairs. Pictures were superior to words as stimulus items and words were recalled more easily than pictures as response items. Short latency response items were superior to long latency responses, but no main effect for latency was obtained on the stimulus side. Findings support the conceptual peg hypothesis. Data also indicate that ease of labelling pictures does facilitate associative learning but that this effect is dependent on practice. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)