Volume 3, Number 4, Article 2, Pages 265-273 doi:10.1167/3.4.2 http://journalofvision.org/3/4/2/ ISSN 1534-7362
Neither here nor there: localizing conflicting visual attributes
Paul V. McGraw
Department of Optometry, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, West Yorks, UK
[home] [e-mail]
David Whitaker
Department of Optometry, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, West Yorks, UK
[home] [e-mail]
David R. Badcock
School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
[home] [e-mail]
Jennifer Skillen
Department of Optometry, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, West Yorks, UK
[e-mail]
Abstract

Natural visual scenes are a rich source of information. Objects often carry luminance, colour, motion, depth and textural cues, each of which can serve to aid detection and localization of the object within a scene. Contemporary neuroscience presumes a modular approach to visual analysis in which each of these attributes are processed within ostensibly independent visual streams and are transmitted to geographically distinct and functionally dedicated centres in visual cortex (van Essen & Maunsell, 1983; Zihl, von Cramon & Mai, 1983; Maunsell & Newsome, 1987; Tootell, Hadjikhani, Mendola, Marrett & Dale, 1998). In the present study we ask how the visual system localizes objects within this framework. Specifically, we investigate how the visual system assigns a unitary location to objects defined by multiple stimulus attributes, where such attributes provide conflicting positional cues. The results show that conflicting sources of visual information can be effortlessly combined to form a global estimate of spatial position, yet, this conflation of visual attributes is achieved at a cost to localization accuracy. Furthermore, our results suggest that the visual system assigns more perceptual weight (Landy, 1993; Landy & Kojima, 2001) to visual attributes which are reliably related to object contours.

View full-text

History
Received September 18, 2001; published May 8, 2003
Citation
McGraw, P. V., Whitaker, D., Badcock, D. R., & Skillen, J. (2003). Neither here nor there: localizing conflicting visual attributes. Journal of Vision, 3(4):2, 265-273, http://journalofvision.org/3/4/2/, doi:10.1167/3.4.2.
Keywords
luminance, texture, spatial position
Downloads
>381 Total; >0.303 /day (DemandFactor)
 
Search
for related articles by these authors
for papers that cite this paper
Get citation






jov