Visual object understanding

Visual object understanding includes processes at the nexus of visual perception and visual cognition. A traditional approach separates questions that are more associated with perception — how are objects represented by high-level vision — from questions that are more associated with cognition — how are objects identified, categorized and remembered. However, to understand the bridge between perception and cognition, it is fruitful to abandon any sharp distinction between perceptual and cognitive aspects of visual object understanding. We provide a selective review of research from both the Object Recognition and Perceptual Categorization literatures, highlighting relevant behavioural, neuropsychological, neurophysiological and theoretical research into the representations and processes that underlie visual object understanding in humans and primates.