Rotated object identification with and without orientation cues.

The time to name two-dimensional line drawings of objects increases linearly for object rotations between 00 and 1200 from the upright. Several theories attribute these effects of orientation to finding the top or the top-bottom axis of objects. By this account, prior knowledge of the location of the top or the top-bottom axis of objects should diminish effects of object orientation when they are named. When this hypothesis was tested by cuing the top or the top-bottom axis, no reduction in the effects of orientation on object naming was found. This result is inconsistent with effects of orientation on object naming being due to finding the top or the top-bottom axis. Instead, the top may be found prior to rotational normalization of the object image. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the statistical independence of color and shape in object identification.

M. J. Nissen (1985) showed that color and shape are processed independently. M. A. Monheit and J. C. Johnston (1994) argued that dependence of color and shape in these experiments was reduced due to random guessing. They conducted 4 experiments in which they attempted to reduce the effect of random guessing. A strong dependence of color and shape reports was observed. In this article the effects that random guessing can have on statistical (in)dependence are analyzed. The authors argue that Monheit and Johnston's analysis is incorrect and inconsistent with the data they report and that random guessing can be the cause of statistical dependence of color and shape reports. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Global precedence in attended and nonattended objects.

In four experiments we evaluated whether there is a priority in early perceptual analysis for the global aspect of a nonattended, visual, compound stimulus. In all experiments, two objects were distinguished by being enclosed in either a square or a circle, and each object consisted of a larger letter constructed from smaller letters. Attention was directed to one of the two objects on the basis of either the square/circle distinction (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) or a visual precue (Experiment 4). In agreement with previous findings, for attended objects, the global aspect was identified faster and was more difficult to ignore than the local aspect. However, for nonattended objects, no evidence was found for an overall priority in perceptual processing leading to identification of the global aspect. Rather, the results indicate that there is a priority in perceptual processing for the general category of global information contained within nonattended objects. Although the results provide some support for the view that global information receives priority during early perceptual analysis, aspects of the results are more consistent with postidentification accounts of global precedence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Function follows form: Activation of shape and function features during object identification.

Most theories of semantic memory characterize knowledge of a given object as comprising a set of semantic features. But how does conceptual activation of these features proceed during object identification? We present the results of a pair of experiments that demonstrate that object recognition is a dynamically unfolding process in which function follows form. We used eye movements to explore whether activating one object's concept leads to the activation of others that share perceptual (shape) or abstract (function) features. Participants viewed 4-picture displays and clicked on the picture corresponding to a heard word. In critical trials, the conceptual representation of 1 of the objects in the display was similar in shape or function (i.e., its purpose) to the heard word. Importantly, this similarity was not apparent in the visual depictions (e.g., for the target Frisbee, the shape-related object was a triangular slice of pizza, a shape that a Frisbee cannot take); preferential fixations on the related object were therefore attributable to overlap of the conceptual representations on the relevant features. We observed relatedness effects for both shape and function, but shape effects occurred earlier than function effects. We discuss the implications of these findings for current accounts of the representation of semantic memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Grand theories of personality cannot be integrated.

Comments on the original article "A New Big Five: Fundamental Principles for an Integrative Science of Personality," by Dan P. McAdams and Jennifer L. Pals (see record 2006-03947-002). McAdams and Pals (April 2006) presented a new model to integrate the field of personality psychology. Cultural and evolutionary factors interact with an individual's basic traits, characteristic adaptations, and life narratives, which in turn are linked to roles, demands, and behaviors. The current authors welcome McAdams and Pals's (2006) model for providing a way to integrate much of the previously disparate empirical findings in personality psychology. However, the current authors also think that McAdams and Pals (2006) overstated the inclusiveness of the model, and more generally, the current authors dispute their assertion that the grand theories of personality can be integrated within a single model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing information about covariations that cannot be articulated.

Three experiments with 134 undergraduates and 80 recent high school graduates investigated processing of covariation between verbally described psychological characteristics and appearance of a set of stimulus persons. Based on S. Glucksberg and M. McCloskey's (see record 1982-07068-001) 2-stage question-answering model, it was hypothesized that if the information related to the manipulated covariation was processed and registered, it would result in an increase of processing time for questions that might be considered relevant to the covariation. Results indicate that although Ss were unable to articulate the manipulated covariation in any of the experiments, the pattern of response latencies obtained conformed exactly to the predictions. In 2 of these experiments, effects of the stimulus material in Ss' subsequent judgments were found, consistent with the model. Ss behaved as if they had "learned" the rule implied by the covariation and followed it in their subsequent judgments. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of outline shape in object recognition.

The use of outline shape in recognizing objects was investigated in 4 experiments. In Experiment 1, participants matched a shaded image to either another shaded image or a silhouette. In Experiment 2, they initially named shaded images; later they named either shaded images or silhouettes. Performance in both experiments was predicted by changes in the outline shape of the stimuli. The same matching (Experiment 3) and priming (Experiment 4) paradigms were then used to investigate recognition with objects that were rotated between presentations so as to change the outline shape of the object. Recognition was predicted by changes to outline shape. These results place constraints on models of object recognition and are most compatible with viewpoint-dependent models of recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recognition without identification.

The ability of people to recognize words that they could not identify was examined. After studying a list of 15 words, participants completed a word fragment test consisting of 4-letter fragments of both studied and nonstudied words. Whether they were able to solve a particular fragment or not, participants then made an episodic recognition judgment. Even when participants were unable to solve a fragment, their recognition accuracy was significantly higher than chance. This effect was significant when list length was increased, when 2-letter fragments were used, when first letters were excluded from fragments, and when the letter casing and the presentation modality were changed from study to test. It also occurred when participants attempted to identify fragments at study and rated words at test. Recognition without identification is attributed to the use of orthographic information when determining the familiarity of a test item. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Herpes gestationis--oral corticosteroids cannot be avoided

An immunpathologically proven gestational herpes case is presented. Herpes gestationis may begin at any stage of pregnancy but it is usually seen during the second trimester. As a rule oral prednisolone therapy is required. We report on a patient who initially insisted on local therapy only. However this local treatment with steroids proved to be insufficient.     

Nonspecific effects of exposure on stimuli that cannot be recognized.

The repeated exposure of unmasked irregular geometric shapes for very brief durations (1 or 2 ms) has been shown to generate preferences as well as judgments of familiarity for the previously exposed shapes. At the same time these stimuli are not recognized as having been presented. Such exposure also leads to judgments of brightness and darkness independent of stimulus intensity, and it is dependent on the use of unmasked stimuli. This effect is nonspecific, in contrast to stimulus-specific effects with masked stimuli, and it is not restricted to affective judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of background information on object identification.

Previous research using briefly presented displays has indicated that objects in a coherent scene are easier to identify than are objects in incoherent backgrounds. Of interest is whether the identification of the target object depends on the identification of the scene or the identification of other diagnostic objects in the scene. Experiment 1 indicated objects are more difficult to identify when located in an "episodically" inconsistent background even when the same diagnostic objects are present in both inconsistent and consistent backgrounds. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the degree to which noncued (cohort) objects are consistent with the target object has no effect on this object identification task. Experiment 3 showed consistent episodic background information facilitated object identification and inconsistent episodic background information did not interfere relative to "nonsense" backgrounds roughly equated on visual characteristics. Implications for models of scene perception are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interference from related items in object identification.

Interference between related items in the identification of objects was examined using a postcue procedure. Pairs of objects were presented as differently colored line drawings followed by a color cue to indicate which object to name. Naming latencies were longer when both objects were from the same superordinate category than when they were unrelated. This interference effect was replicated when subjects were cued to report the color of a drawing rather than its name. Interference was greatly reduced when more distinctive attributes were used to distinguish members of a pair, both when the task required naming an object and when it required report of an object's attribute. These results challenge accounts of interference in the postcue paradigm that are based on competitive interactions in the activation of phonological representations by semantics and instead implicate object-attribute integration in memory as the source of interference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Song recognition without identification: When people cannot "name that tune" but can recognize it as familiar.

Recognition without identification (RWI) is a common day-to-day experience (as when recognizing a face or a tune as familiar without being able to identify the person or the song). It is also a well-established laboratory-based empirical phenomenon: When identification of recognition test items is prevented, participants can discriminate between studied and unstudied test items. The present study demonstrates this finding in the realm of music. A song RWI effect is reported across 4 experiments, despite very low identification rates in each. The effect was found with unidentifiable song fragments (Experiment 1), with song notes removed from their original rhythms (Experiment 2), and with songs unidentifiable from their tapped out rhythms (Experiments 3 and 4). Theoretical implications of these results are relevant to both the study of familiarity-based recognition and the study of music cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kinetic depth effect and identification of shape.

We introduce an objective shape-identification task (SIT) for measuring the kinetic depth effect (KDE). A rigidly rotating surface consisting of hills and valleys on an otherwise flat ground was defined by 300 randomly positioned dots. On each trial, Ss identified 1 of 53 shapes and its direction of rotation. Identification accuracy was an objective measure of Ss' perceptual ability to extract 3D structure from 2D motion via KDE. Objective accuracy data were consistent with previous subjective rating judgments of depth and coherence. Along with motion cues, rotating real 3D dot-defined shapes produced a cue of changing dot density. Shortening dot lifetimes to control dot density showed that changing density was neither necessary nor sufficient to account for accuracy; motion alone sufficed. Our SIT was solvable with motion cues from the 6 most relevant locations. We used the dots from these locations in a simplified 2D direction-labeling motion task with 6 perceptually flat flow fields. Ss' performance in the 2D and 3D tasks was equivalent, indicating that the information processing capacity of KDE is not unique. Our proposed structure-from-motion algorithm for the SIT finds relative minima and maxima of local velocity and then assigns 3D depths proportional to velocity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theory of attentional operations in shape identification.

This article presents a theory of selective attention that is intended to account for the identification of a visual shape in a cluttered display. The selected area of attention is assumed to be controlled by a filter that operates on the location information in a display. The location information selected by the filter in turn determines the feature information that is to be identified. Changes in location of the selected area are assumed to be governed by a gradient of processing resources. Data from three new experiments are fit more parsimoniously by a gradient model than by a moving-spotlight model. The theory is applied to experiments in the recent literature concerned with precuing locations in the visual field, and to the issue of attentional and automatic processing in the identification of words. Finally, data from neuroanatomical experiments are reviewed to suggest ways that the theory might be realized in the primate brain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interrater reliability coefficients cannot be computed when only one stimulus is rated.

The practice in the literature of computing purported interrater reliability coefficients when only one stimulus (person or object) is rated is examined. This article demonstrates that such coefficients are without logical foundation in standard measurement theory. The methods advanced by L. R. James et al (see record 1984-11275-001) for computing interrater reliability coefficients when only one stimulus is rated are considered and shown to be inconsistent with standard measurement principles and assumptions. Methods consistent with measurement theory are presented for indexing interrater agreement when only one stimulus is rated. These methods are based on the standard deviation of ratings across raters and the standard error of the mean rating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)