整体与部分的意义关系对汉字知觉的影响

以汉字为材料研究整体与部分之间的意义关系对知觉的影响。实验1采用整体/局部的等级模式。结果表明,整体与部分的意义关系影响整体与部分的知觉。实验2采用启动范式,启动字部件与目标字有意义关系。结果表明,启动字部件对有意义联系的目标字有启动效应。整个研究表明,汉字知觉中存在由整体到部分和由部分到整体的双向平行加工,整体与部分的意义关系影响字词整体与部分的知觉。     

Visual working memory for global,object, and part-based information

We investigated visual working memory for novel objects and parts of novel objects. After a delay period, participants showed strikingly more accurate performance recognizing a single whole object than the parts of that object. This bias to remember whole objects, rather than parts, persisted even when the division between parts was clearly defined and the parts were disconnected from each other so that, in order to remember the single whole object, the participants needed to mentally combine the parts. In addition, the bias was confirmed when the parts were divided by color. These experiments indicated that holistic perceptual-grouping biases are automatically used to organize storage in visual working memory. In addition, our results suggested that the bias was impervious to top-down consciously directed control, because when task demands were manipulated through instruction and catch trials, the participants still recognized whole objects more quickly and more accurately than their parts. This bias persisted even when the whole objects were novel and the parts were familiar. We propose that visual working memory representations depend primarily on the global configural properties of whole objects, rather than part-based representations, even when the parts themselves can be clearly perceived as individual objects. This global configural bias beneficially reduces memory load on a capacity-limited system operating in a complex visual environment, because fewer distinct items must be remembered.     

Identity imposition and its role in a stereokinetic effect

Lines of constant curvature, a circle or a straight line, have no distinguishable parts. Yet they are perceived as if they did. When they move and intersect, they are perceived to slide across each other as if one of them had parts that can be seen to move in relation to the other line. With no such parts present in stimulation, they are products of perception. It was found that a third line of constant curvature, the helix, is also seen to slide when two helixes intersect and are in motion. Another manifestation of perceived identical parts is that rotating circles and similar shapes are perceived not to rotate even when cues for rotation are present. Furthermore, changes between merely perceived identical parts can result in apparent depth. Evidence is presented that such depth, known as the stereokinetic effect, results from kinetic depth-effects that are based on perceived identical parts instead of on actually identical parts, and that depth is seen when the intervals between such perceived parts change length and orientation simultaneously.     

The matching of parts of things

An axiomatic treatment of the relation ‘part of’ is shown to lead naturally to an account of the ways in which parts of things are matched. The determination of matchings by the properties of parts and by the relations between parts is discussed and shown to be relevant to certain classificatory problems in science. The connexions between matchings and symmetries of parts are explored, and a general account is given of the ways in which ambiguities in the matching of parts may be resolved.     

Parts of visual objects: an experimental test of the minima rule

Three experiments were conducted to test Hoffman and Richards's (1984) hypothesis that, for purposes of visual recognition, the human visual system divides three-dimensional shapes into parts at negative minima of curvature. In the first two experiments, subjects observed a simulated object (surface of revolution) rotating about a vertical axis, followed by a display of four alternative parts. They were asked to select a part that was from the object. Two of the four parts were divided at negative minima of curvature and two at positive maxima. When both a minima part and a maxima part from the object were presented on each trial (experiment 1), most of the correct responses were minima parts (101 versus 55). When only one part from the object--either a minima part or a maxima part--was shown on each trial (experiment 2), accuracy on trials with correct minima parts and correct maxima parts did not differ significantly. However, some subjects indicated that they reversed figure and ground, thereby changing maxima parts into minima parts. In experiment 3, subjects marked apparent part boundaries. 81% of these marks indicated minima parts, 10% of the marks indicated maxima parts, and 9% of the marks were at other positions. These results provide converging evidence, from two different methods, which supports Hoffman and Richard's minima rule.     

Warnings reduce false memories for missing aspects of events

When people see movies with some parts missing, they falsely recognize many of the missing parts later. In two experiments, we examined the effect of warnings on people's false memories for these parts. In Experiment 1, warning subjects about false recognition before the movie (forewarnings) reduced false recognition, but warning them after the movie (postwarnings) reduced false recognition to a lesser extent. In Experiment 2, the effect of the warnings depended on the nature of the missing parts. Forewarnings were more effective than postwarnings in reducing false recognition of missing noncrucial parts, but forewarnings and postwarnings were similarly effective in reducing false recognition of crucial missing parts. We use the source monitoring framework to explain our results.     

Attending to the parts of a single object: part-based selection limitations

Studies of object-based attention have demonstrated poorer performance in dividing attention between two objects in a scene than in focusing attention on a single object. However, objects often are composed of several parts, and parts are central to theories of object recognition. Are parts also important for visual attention? That is, can attention be limited in the number of parts processed simultaneously? We addressed this question in four experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants reported two attributes that appeared on the same part or on different parts of a single multipart object. Participants were more accurate in reporting the attributes on the same part than attributes on different parts. This part-based effect was not influenced by the spatial distance between the parts, ruling out a simple spatial attention interpretation of our results. A control study demonstrated that our spatial manipulation was sufficient to observe shifts of spatial attention. This study revealed an effect of spatial distance, indicating that our spatial manipulation was adequate for observing spatial attention. The absence of a distance effect in Experiments 1 and 2 suggests that part-based attention may not rely entirely on simple shifts of spatial attention. Finally, in Experiment 4 we found evidence for part-based attention, using stimuli controlled for the distance between the parts of an object. The results of these experiments indicate that visual attention can selectively process the parts of an object. We discuss the relationship between parts and objects and the locus of part-based attentional selection.     

Guarding the perimeter: The outside-inside dichotomy in disgust and bodily experience

Blending phenomenological and evolutionary approaches, three studies explored the relationship between the body, the self, and disgust. Study 1 demonstrated that body parts that interface with the environment are sensed more than internal body parts, and are more intimately associated with the self. Studies 2 and 3, exploring the bodily distribution of disgust via organ transplantation scenarios, revealed that (a) transplantation of interface body parts is more disgusting than transplantation of internal parts; (b) others' interface parts elicit greater disgust than others' internal parts; and (c) individual differences in disgust sensitivity manifest primarily in reasoning about interface parts. The outer/inner dichotomy is a fundamental feature of the relationship between body and self, reflecting the adaptive utility of concentrating attention on the interface with the environment. Correspondingly, disgust, the emotion that protects the organism from contamination, is focused on the intersection between the body and the environment.     

Prosopagnosia: a case study involving problems in processing configural information

An ongoing issue in face recognition research is whether holistic face processing relies on the segregation of local discrete facial parts. Evidence in favor of the holistic-plus-parts view stems from a recent study reported by Arguin and Saumier (1999), who show that the priming effects of individual facial parts (i.e., eyes, nose, mouth, orcontour) depends on the presence of configural information and that the magnitude of priming augments as the number of facial parts serving as primes increase. The present study demonstrates that these global processing effects are absent in a prosopagnosic patient (A.R.), who shows no priming from single face parts and a linear increase in the magnitude of priming as a function of the number of parts presented. These findings indicate that A.R. is incapable of integrating individual facial parts into a global facial configuration ant that this is likely at the root of her prosopagnosia.     

Detection of grouped and ungrouped parts in visual patterns by tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and humans (Homo sapiens)

The authors investigated perceptual grouping in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and humans (Homo sapiens). In Experiment 1, 6 monkeys received a visual pattern as the sample and had to identify the comparison stimulus featuring some of its parts. Performance was better for ungrouped parts than for grouped parts. In Experiment 2, the sample featured the parts, and the comparison stimuli, the complex figures: The advantage for ungrouped elements disappeared. In Experiment 3, in which new stimuli were introduced, the results of the previous experiments were replicated. In Experiment 4, 128 humans were presented with the same tasks and stimuli used with monkeys. Their accuracy was higher for grouped parts. Results suggest that human and nonhuman primates use different modes of analyzing multicomponent patterns.     

Estimating the reliability of a test split into two parts of equal or unequal length

When the reliability of test scores must be estimated by an internal consistency method, partition of the test into just 2 parts may be the only way to maintain content equivalence of the parts. If the parts are classically parallel, the Spearman-Brown formula may be validly used to estimate the reliability of total scores. If the parts differ in their standard deviations but are tau equivalent, Cronbach's alpha is appropriate. However, if the 2 parts are congeneric, that is, they are unequal in functional length or they comprise heterogeneous item types, a less well-known estimate, the Angoff-Feldt coefficient, is appropriate. Guidelines in terms of the ratio of standard deviations are proposed for choosing among Spearman-Brown, alpha, and Angoff-Feldt coefficients.     

Lexical-semantic body knowledge in 5- to 11-year-old children: How spatial body representation influences body semantics

This study addresses the relation between lexico-semantic body knowledge (i.e., body semantics) and spatial body representation (i.e., structural body representation) by analyzing naming performances as a function of body structural topography. One hundred and forty-one children ranging from 5 years 2 months to 10 years 5 months old were asked to provide a lexical label for isolated body part pictures. We compared the children’s naming performances according to the location of the body parts (body parts vs. head features and also upper vs. lower limbs) or to their involvement in motor skills (distal segments, joints, and broader body parts). The results showed that the children’s naming performance was better for facial body parts than for other body parts. Furthermore, it was found that the naming of body parts was better for body parts related to action. These findings suggest that the development of a spatial body representation shapes the elaboration of semantic body representation processing. Moreover, this influence was not limited to younger children. In our discussion of these results, we focus on the important role of action in the development of body representations and semantic organization.     

The importance of inner and outer body parts attitudes in the self-concept of late adolescents

The differential roles of inner and outer body parts attitudes in predicting the self-concepts of late adolescents (107 female and 72 male undergraduates) were assessed in order to test derivations from Erikson's notions (1964) about sex differences in the import of inner and out body “space” for personality. To assess knowledge about inner body space, subjects drew and labeled their internal body parts within an asexual frontal outline figure. Affect associated with internal and external body parts was assessed by rating 36 body characteristics in terms of their importance in making subjects attractive, effective people. Subjects responded also to a short self-concept scale. Females demonstrated greater knowledge of their inner body and attached generally higher levels of importance to their internal (and external) body parts than did males. However, completely opposite to the tested Eriksonian notions, inner body parts attitudes predicted self-concepts for males, but not for females. Moreover, more external than internal body parts were significant predictors of females' self-concepts, and the former parts accounted for more variance in self-concept than the latter ones. The results are interpreted to speak against theories which attempt to dichotomize the source of sex differences in personality development into either biologically or societally based contributions.     

Selective visual attention for ugly and beautiful body parts in eating disorders

Body image disturbance is characteristic of eating disorders, and current treatments use body exposure to reduce bad body feelings. There is however little known about the cognitive effects of body exposure. In the present study, eye movement registration (electroculography) as a direct index of selective visual attention was used while eating symptomatic and normal control participants were exposed to digitalized pictures of their own body and control bodies. The data showed a decreased focus on their own 'beautiful' body parts in the high symptomatic participants, whereas inspection of their own 'ugly' body parts was given priority. In the normal control group a self-serving cognitive bias was found: they focused more on their own 'beautiful' body parts and less on their own 'ugly' body parts. When viewing other bodies the pattern was reversed: high symptom participants allocated their attention to the beautiful parts of other bodies, whereas normal controls concentrated on the ugly parts of the other bodies. From the present findings the hypothesis follows that a change in the processing of information might be needed for body exposure to be successful.     

整体与部分的关系对汉字的知觉分离影响的研究

采用命名技术探讨了整体与部分的关系对汉字知觉分离的影响。实验一探讨了在由相同构字部件组成的汉字整体中部件从整体中分离出来的情况。结果表明,在由相同构字部件组成的整体中,部件同整体分离的难易与部件数有关,在部件少的整体当中,部件反而更难同整体分离,部件之间结合得更紧密,当命名部件时,整体更难被忽视。实验二探讨了部件从由不同构字部件组成的汉字整体中分离出来的情况,结果表明：（１）部件同整体分离的难易取     

Independent processing of parts and of their spatial organization in complex visual objects

A visual search experiment using synthetic three-dimensional objects is reported. The target shared its constituent parts, the spatial organization of its parts, or both with the distractors displayed with it. Sharing of parts and sharing of spatial organization both negatively affected visual search performance, and these effects were strictly additive. These findings support theories of complex visual object perception that assume a parsing of the stimulus into its higher-order constituents (volumetric parts or visible surfaces). The additivity of the effects demonstrates that information on parts and information on spatial organization are processed independently in visual search.     

Encoding color and shape from different parts of an object in visual short-term memory

Can we find an object-based encoding benefit in visual short-term memory (VSTM) when the features to be remembered are from different parts of an object? Using object parts defined by either figure-ground separation or negative minima of curvature, results from five experiments in which the visual change detection paradigm was used showed that the object-based encoding benefit in VSTM is modulated by how features are assigned to parts of an object: Features are best retained when the color and shape features to be remembered belong to the same part of an object. Although less well retained in comparison, features from different parts of an object are still better remembered than features from spatially separated objects. An object-based feature binding therefore exists even when the color and shape features to be remembered are from different parts of an object.     

The representations of spacing and part-based information are associated for upright faces but dissociated for objects: Evidence from individual differences

Considerable evidence suggests that qualitatively different processes are involved in the perception of faces and objects. According to a central hypothesis, the extraction of information about the spacing among face parts (e.g., eyes and mouth) is a primary function of face processing mechanisms that is dissociated from the extraction of information about the shape of these parts. Here, we used an individual-differences approach to test whether the shape of face parts and the spacing among them are indeed processed by dissociated mechanisms. To determine whether the pattern of findings that we reveal is unique for upright faces, we also presented similarly manipulated nonface stimuli. Subjects discriminated upright or inverted faces or houses that differed in parts or spacing. Only upright faces yielded a large positive correlation across subjects between performance on the spacing and part discrimination tasks. We found no such correlation for inverted faces or houses. Our findings suggest that face parts and spacing are processed by associated mechanisms, whereas the parts and spacing of nonface objects are processed by distinct mechanisms. These results may be consistent with the idea that faces are special, in that they are processed as nondecomposable wholes.     

Effects of partial occlusion on perceived surface segregation

Tests are reported of the possibility that local information from contour junctions and from corners of intersecting surfaces is used for perceived surface segregation. Stimuli were two intersecting squares with small disks occluding different parts of the squares. The perceived segregation of the squares from one another decreased as the amount of occlusion of parts of the squares increased. This segregation was less when disks occluded parts of contours than when disks occluded parts entirely inside the squares. Occlusion of parts of contours reduced segregation independently of whether contour junctions or corners were visible or invisible, both where the intersecting surfaces were transparent squares and when they were outlined squares. The present findings show that local information from contour junctions or from corners is not used for surface segregation, and confirm that this segregation is determined by global processes of grouping of areas and of extrapolation of contours.     

When context hinders! Learn-test compatibility in face recognition

Some theories of holistic face processing propose that parts in faces (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) are not explicitly represented. So far, the empirical evidence has shown that whole-to-part superiority is found when wholes are learned. We substantiated this using photographic faces. More importantly, we investigated whether learning parts also reveals holistic effects. This has not been attempted before. Four experiments showed that after learning facial parts, recognition of these parts was disrupted when the part was shown in the full face. This distraction effect was strongest when perceivers were not directed to focus on a particular facial feature. Thus, it is very difficult to ignore irrelevant parts in faces. In fact, this might be the essence of holistic face processing.