The Perceptual Specificity of Representations of Complex Scenes for Rotation, Translation, and Reflection
Olson, Mark William
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/82533
Description
Title
The Perceptual Specificity of Representations of Complex Scenes for Rotation, Translation, and Reflection
Author(s)
Olson, Mark William
Issue Date
1998
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Kramer, Arthur
Department of Study
Neuroscience
Discipline
Neuroscience
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Biology, Neuroscience
Language
eng
Abstract
The issue of how complex visual scenes are represented has received relatively little attention. Perceptual specificity refers to the degree to which a physical change to a stimulus, upon re-presentation, alters performance in any type of memory test. I investigated the perceptual specificity of scene representations for various kinds of changes to naturalistic scenes using eye movements and a direct measure of memory (familiarity or recognition). In Experiment 1, both measures indicated that scene representations, like object representations, are perceptually specific for rotations in depth. In Experiment 2, I replicated this result using backgroundless outdoor objects and concluded that this similar result emerged because the representations of both objects and scenes have view dependent components, and because the primary objects in a scene are allotted more weight in the scene's representation. In Experiment 3, I horizontally translated scenes in order to determine if scene representations are frame-specific and to test the hypothesis that primary objects are allotted more representational weight. I found that scene representations are sensitive to frame translation in a manner that suggests that primary objects are weighted more heavily. In Experiment 4, I altered the left-right orientation of the picture to determine whether sensitivity for translation in Experiment 3 was due to deletion of scene parts or changes in the spatial relationships between scene features and the viewer. Mild specificity for orientation suggests that both play a role. I suggest that the perceptual specificity of these results in all 4 experiments supports the view that the representations of complex scenes have components which are view-, frame-, and orientation-dependent. Future research is suggested for examining further the nature of complex scene representations.
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