Icsc 2006

According to the two-visual-system hypothesis (Milner and Goodale 1995), after V1 the visual system splits into vision-for-action and vision-for-perception modules. Specifically, the dorsal subsystem is proposed to specialize in the visual guidance of actions, whereas the ventral subsystem in object perception and recognition. Support for the two-visual-systems hypothesis has come from monkey and human studies using a variety of techniques, including neuroimaging, neuropsychological, neurophysical, psychophysical, and behavioral methods (for a recent review, see Goodale and Westwood 2004). In particular, four commonly accepted criteria for the modularity of cognitive systems are broadly tested in the literature: association with fixed neural architecture, obligatory output, information encapsulation, and specific breakdown patterns after damage (Fodor 1983). Very few studies have tested other criteria for modularity, such as, for instance, the idea that independent modules may exhibit characteristic pace and sequencing in their ontogenetic development. Rival et al. (2004), among others, studied motor and perceptual responses to illusions in children. They reported that visuomanual pointing responses were unaffected by illusions, whereas visual matches were.