Implicit identification of irrelevant local objects interacts with global/local processing of hierarchical stimuli

1. Acta Psychol (Amst). 2006 Jul;122(3):321-36. Epub 2006 Mar 29.

Implicit identification of irrelevant local objects interacts with global/local
processing of hierarchical stimuli.

Poirel N(1), Pineau A, Mellet E.

Author information:
(1)Groupe d’Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle (GIN) UMR 6194, CNRS, CEA, Univ. Caen and
Univ. Paris V, France.

This work aimed at studying interactions between automatic object identification
and global/local perceptual processing. We designed a paradigm in which
participants were presented with pairs of hierarchically organized items,
composed of global forms made up of local forms. Both global and local forms
could represent either objects or non-objects. Subjects were instructed to detect
whether the two hierarchical items composing a pair were identical or different.
In a dissimilar pair, items differed at one level (target level), the other
level, made of similar forms on both sides, was irrelevant to perform the task.
We hypothesized that the automatic identification of object could affect the
global precedence principle defined by Navon. In agreement with our hypothesis,
we found that when the irrelevant level was made of objects, the global
precedence effect was reversed. In contrast, the irrelevant level had no effect
when the target level included only objects, or when the irrelevant level was
made of non-object, the global precedence principle was being preserved in these
cases. This interaction is compatible with the existence of two distinct
processes working in parallel, namely automatic identification and structural
analysis, that could either interfere or act together for the detection of
differences.

DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2005.12.010
PMID: 16574048 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Auteurs Bordeaux Neurocampus