How recent experience affects the perception of ambiguous objects

Abstract Sensory information from the external world is inherently ambiguous, necessitating prior experience as a constraint on perception. Recent experience with clear, prototypical stimuli may, however, induce complex effects on the subsequent perception of ambiguous ones, ranging from attraction...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research 2010-03, Vol.1322, p.81-91
Main Authors: Daelli, Valentina, van Rijsbergen, Nicola J, Treves, Alessandro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation aftereffects
Adaptation, Physiological - physiology
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Learning - physiology
Miscellaneous
Neurology
Neuropsychological Tests
Object perception
Perception - physiology
Perceptual Masking - physiology
Photic Stimulation
Priming
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychophysics
Reaction Time - physiology
Recognition (Psychology) - physiology
Time Factors
Visual Cortex - anatomy & histology
Visual Cortex - physiology
Visual Perception - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Sensory information from the external world is inherently ambiguous, necessitating prior experience as a constraint on perception. Recent experience with clear, prototypical stimuli may, however, induce complex effects on the subsequent perception of ambiguous ones, ranging from attraction (priming) to repulsion (adaptation aftereffects). In the present study, we ask what determines the direction and magnitude of the effects in the case of images of naturalistic (complex) objects, which are putatively analyzed in advanced visual cortices and under the influence of multimodal semantic memories. We find a basic crossover from adaptation aftereffects to priming effects as the delay lengthens between experiencing a prototype and seeing the ambiguous stimulus. Adaptation aftereffects appear as a shift in the perceptual boundary between distinct object images, which vanishes with time, unmasking an overall and temporally sustained priming bias. A similar attractive bias occurs when the original adapter is substituted by an ambiguous image.
ISSN:0006-8993
1872-6240
DOI:10.1016/j.brainres.2010.01.060