Summary
Different properties of the visual array are encoded in the brain in a variety of different, specialized subsystems. Some of these subsystems are spatiotopically organized; others appear not to be. The question arises as to how information regarding different properties of the same visual object, encoded in different spatiotopic and non-spatiotopic subsystems, is co-ordinated or integrated in the selective control of action. In our experiments, subjects are instructed to name selectively just one object among a briefly presented, and pattern-masked, array of other objects; the object to be named is specified either in terms of its colour and/or in terms of its relative location in the array. We also manipulate the categorical relation between the target object and its surrounding non-targets. Our results indicate that, even at quite short exposures (short masking SOA), categorical identity information is available, but that this information has not yet been co-ordinated with information about relative position or colour. Integration of identity and relative position information begins to appear in the selective control of action only at relatively long masking SOAs and continues over several hundred milliseconds. Even when the target is the only member of the designated response-set in the display, other items surrounding the target interfere with target selection. Outer items in a spatial cluster of items may be segmented earlier than central items, and the integration of identity and position information appears earlier for ‘outer’ positions. We put forward a preliminary outline model of visual attribute integration in the selective control of action and in the creation of episodic memory.
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Paper contributed to Symposium on Visual Attention and Action at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (ZIF), University of Bielefeld, Federal Republic of Germany, July 1985
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Styles, E.A., Allport, D.A. Perceptual integration of identity, location and colour. Psychol. Res 48, 189–200 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309083
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309083