Divided attention limits perception of 3-D object shapes

Divided attention limits perception of 3-D object shapes.

Can one perceive multiple object shapes at once? We tested two benchmark models of object shape perception under divided attention: an unlimited-capacity and a fixed-capacity model. Under unlimited-capacity models, shapes are analyzed independently and in parallel. Under fixed-capacity models, shapes are processed at a fixed rate (as in a serial model). To distinguish these models, we compared ...

Attention and Visual Perception: Analyzing Divided Attention

Attention is one of the most active areas of experimental research in cognitive science. This chapter focuses on an aspect of attention that has been studied intensively over the past twenty-five years or so: capacity limitations on our ability to perceive multiple visual inputs. The basic questions are simple but far-reaching. How much visual information can we take in at one time? What can we...

Differential effects of shared attention on perception of heading and 3-D object motion.

When a person moves in a straight line through a stationary environment, the images of object surfaces move in a radial pattern away from a single point. This point, known as the focus of expansion (FOE), corresponds to the person's direction of motion. People judge their heading from image motion quite well in this situation. They perform most accurately when they can see the region around the...

Object Perception , Attention , & Memory

The influence of divided attention on holistic face perception.

There is evidence that upright, but not inverted, faces are encoded holistically. The holistic coding of faces was examined in four experiments by manipulating the attention allocated to target faces. In Experiment 1, participants in a divided attention condition were asked to match two upright flanker faces while encoding a centrally presented upright target face. Although holistic coding was ...