Towards a resolution theory of visual attention.

Abstract The present paper proposes that preattended visual information produces a coarse representation by automatically stimulating a detector that responds to a range of similar features. Directing attention to a given location improves the resolution of features by computing the relative activation of overlapping internal detectors. A selective review of the literature shows that the proposed distinction is supported by a variety of studies investigating diverse phenomena of target-background similarity effects, conjunctive search, illusory conjunctions, feature similarity effects, global precedence, shape discrimination, detection of signals, categorical search, curvature discrimination, and length perception.

[1]  J. Beck,et al.  Discriminability of differences in line slope and in line arrangement as a function of mask delay , 1972 .

[2]  James L. McClelland,et al.  Levels indeed! A response to Broadbent , 1985 .

[3]  Howard S. Bashinski,et al.  Enhancement of perceptual sensitivity as the result of selectively attending to spatial locations , 1980, Perception & psychophysics.

[4]  A Treisman,et al.  Feature analysis in early vision: evidence from search asymmetries. , 1988, Psychological review.

[5]  H. Spitzer,et al.  Increased attention enhances both behavioral and neuronal performance. , 1988, Science.

[6]  P. Merikle,et al.  Global precedence in attended and nonattended objects. , 1988, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[7]  D. G. Albrecht,et al.  Spatial frequency selectivity of cells in macaque visual cortex , 1982, Vision Research.

[8]  A Cohen,et al.  Density effects in conjunction search: evidence for a coarse location mechanism of feature integration. , 1991, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[9]  D. Navon.  Forest before trees: The precedence of global features in visual perception , 1977, Cognitive Psychology.

[10]  M. Posner,et al.  Attention and the detection of signals. , 1980, Journal of experimental psychology.

[11]  Maryanne Martin.  Local and global processing: The role of sparsity , 1979 .

[12]  David Zipser,et al.  Feature Discovery by Competive Learning , 1986, Cogn. Sci..

[13]  Walter Schneider,et al.  Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending and a general theory. , 1977 .

[14]  Y. Tsal.  Do Illusory Conjunctions Support the Feature Integration Theory? A Critical Review of Theory and Findings , 1989 .

[15]  James L. McClelland.  On the time relations of mental processes: An examination of systems of processes in cascade. , 1979 .

[16]  R. Desimone,et al.  Selective attention gates visual processing in the extrastriate cortex. , 1985, Science.

[17]  J. Duncan,et al.  Visual search and stimulus similarity. , 1989, Psychological review.

[18]  D. Foster.  Visual discrimination, categorical identification, and categorical rating in brief displays of curved lines: implications for discrete encoding processes. , 1983, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[19]  L. Paquet.  Global and local processing in nonattended objects: a failure to induce local processing dominance. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[20]  J. Wolfe,et al.  The role of categorization in visual search for orientation. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[21]  J. Beck,et al.  The effects of concentrated and distributed attention on peripheral acuity , 1973 .

[22]  Walter Schneider,et al.  Controlled and Automatic Human Information Processing: 1. Detection, Search, and Attention. , 1977 .

[23]  A. Treisman.  Search, similarity, and integration of features between and within dimensions. , 1991, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[24]  R. Ivry,et al.  Effect of feature similarity on illusory conjunctions , 1991, Perception & psychophysics.

[25]  D. Broadbent.  A question of levels: comment on McClelland and Rumelhart , 1985 .

[26]  Geoffrey E. Hinton,et al.  Distributed Representations , 1986, The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence.

[27]  Leslie G. Ungerleider,et al.  Contour, color and shape analysis beyond the striate cortex , 1985, Vision Research.

[28]  A. Treisman,et al.  A feature-integration theory of attention , 1980, Cognitive Psychology.

[29]  A. Treisman,et al.  Illusory conjunctions in the perception of objects , 1982, Cognitive Psychology.