Are Categorical Spatial Relations Encoded by Shifting Visual Attention between Objects?

Autor/inn/en	Yuan, Lei; Uttal, David; Franconeri, Steven
Titel	Are Categorical Spatial Relations Encoded by Shifting Visual Attention between Objects?
Quelle	11 (2016) 10, (23 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2) Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Yuan, Lei) Weitere Informationen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Schlagwörter	Spatial Ability; Attention; Memory; Eye Movements; Cognitive Processes; Novelty (Stimulus Dimension); Visual Stimuli; Prediction; Reaction Time; Recall (Psychology); Undergraduate Students; Statistical Analysis; Illinois + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Räumliches Vorstellungsvermögen; Aufmerksamkeit; Gedächtnis; Augenbewegung; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Vorhersage; Reaktionsvermögen; Abberufung; Statistische Analyse
Abstract	Perceiving not just values, but relations between values, is critical to human cognition. We tested the predictions of a proposed mechanism for processing categorical spatial relations between two objects--the "shift account" of relation processing--which states that relations such as "above" or "below" are extracted by shifting visual attention upward or downward in space. If so, then shifts of attention should improve the representation of spatial relations, compared to a control condition of identity memory. Participants viewed a pair of briefly flashed objects and were then tested on either the relative spatial relation or identity of one of those objects. Using eye tracking to reveal participants' voluntary shifts of attention over time, we found that when initial fixation was on neither object, relational memory showed an absolute advantage for the object following an attention shift, while identity memory showed no advantage for either object. This result is consistent with the shift account of relation processing. When initial fixation began on one of the objects, identity memory strongly benefited this fixated object, while relational memory only showed a relative benefit for objects following an attention shift. This result is also consistent, although not as uniquely, with the shift account of relation processing. Taken together, we suggest that the attention shift account provides a mechanistic explanation for the overall results. This account can potentially serve as the common mechanism underlying both linguistic and perceptual representations of spatial relations. (As Provided).
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01