Distinct processing for pictures of animals and objects: evidence from eye movements

Many studies have suggested that emotional stimuli orient and engage attention. There is also evidence that animate stimuli, such as those from humans and animals, cause attentional bias. However, categorical and emotional factors are usually mixed, and it is unclear to what extent human context influences attentional allocation. To address this issue, we tracked participants' eye movements while they viewed pictures with animals and inanimate images (i.e., category) as focal objects. These pictures had either negative or neutral emotional valence, and either human body parts or nonhuman parts were near the focal objects (i.e., context). The picture's valence, arousal, position, size, and most of the low-level visual features were matched across categories. The results showed that nonhuman animals were more likely to be attended to and to be attended to for longer times than inanimate objects. The same pattern held for the human contexts (vs. nonhuman contexts). The effects of emotional valence, category, and context interacted. Specifically, in images with a negative valence, focal animals and objects with human context had comparable numbers of gaze fixations and gaze duration. These results highlighted the attentional bias to animate parts of a picture and clarified that the effects of category, valence, and picture context interacted to influence attentional allocation.     

Confirming statements about pictures of natural scenes: evidence of the processing of gist from eye movements

Combined displays of graphics and text, such as figure captions in newspapers and books, lead to distinctive inspection patterns, or scanpaths. Readers characteristically look very briefly at the picture, and then read the caption, and then look again at the picture. The initial inspection of the picture is the focus of interest in the present experiment, in which we attempted to modify the inspection by giving participants advance knowledge of the subject of a sentence (the cued object) that was to be verified or denied on the basis of whether it correctly described some aspect of the scene shown in the picture. Eye fixations were recorded while the viewers looked at the picture and the sentence in whatever sequence they chose. By allowing viewers to know the subject of the sentence in advance, we asked whether patterns of fixations on the sentence and on the second inspection of the picture would reflect prior knowledge of the focus of the sentence. Providing advance information did not influence eye movements while reading the sentence. It did, however, increase the number of fixations in the initial inspection of the picture, and it also reduced the number and duration of the fixations on the pictures overall. The results suggest that cueing participants to the object allowed increased coding in the initial inspection of the picture, though the benefit of such coding only becomes apparent when the picture is inspected for the second time.     

The use of computer graphics animation in motion perception research

The advantages and limitations of using computer-animated stimuli in studying motion perception are discussed. Most current programs of motion perception research could not be pursued without the use of computer graphics animation. Computer-generated displays afford latitudes of freedom and control that are almost impossible to attain through conventional methods. There are, however, limitations to this presentational medium. At present, computer-generated displays present simplified approximations of the dynamics in natural events. We know very little about how the differences between natural events and computer simulations influence perceptual processing. In practice, we tend to assume that the differences are irrelevant to the questions under study and that findings with computer-generated stimuli will generalize to natural events.     

The processing of metonymy: evidence from eye movements

The authors investigated the time course of the processing of metonymic expressions in comparison with literal ones in 2 eye-tracking experiments. Experiment 1 considered the processing of sentences containing place-for-institution metonymies such as the convent in That blasphemous woman had to answer to the convent; it was found that such expressions were of similar difficulty to sentences containing literal interpretations of the same expressions. In contrast, expressions without a relevant metonymic interpretation caused immediate difficulty. Experiment 2 found similar results for place-for-event metonymies such as A lot of Americans protested during Vietnam, except that the difficulty with expressions without a relevant metonymic interpretation was somewhat delayed. The authors argue that these findings are incompatible with models of figurative language processing in which either the literal sense is accessed first or the figurative sense is accessed first. Instead, they support an account in which both senses can be accessed immediately, perhaps through a single under-specified representation.     

Inference by eye: confidence intervals and how to read pictures of data

Wider use in psychology of confidence intervals (CIs), especially as error bars in figures, is a desirable development. However, psychologists seldom use CIs and may not understand them well. The authors discuss the interpretation of figures with error bars and analyze the relationship between CIs and statistical significance testing. They propose 7 rules of eye to guide the inferential use of figures with error bars. These include general principles: Seek bars that relate directly to effects of interest, be sensitive to experimental design, and interpret the intervals. They also include guidelines for inferential interpretation of the overlap of CIs on independent group means. Wider use of interval estimation in psychology has the potential to improve research communication substantially.     

Dimensions of information processing: physiological reactions to motion pictures

Information processing is studied using physiological reactions to motion pictures as a major tool. In study I (N=44) physiological reactions are subjected to multivariate analysis revealing three major dimensions: familiarization, effort, and readiness (cf. Pribram and McGuinness, 1992). Each dimension contrasts controlled processing with automatic processing. In study II (N=72) and study III (N=96) the dimensions are tested. In those studies specific information is provided prior to film onset and the effects on the physiological reactions are studied. The results generally confirm the model. Study IV (N=44) is concerned with individual differences in information processing. Reactions to seven films are analysed with generalizability for each dimension separately. The results show that individual dimension scores are highly consistent across different situations. In the discussion it is argued that the three information processing dimensions identified here can be conceived as stable personality dispositions, underlying individual differences in learning and overt behaviour. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elaborative processing of pictures in verbal domains

Four experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of semantic and nonsemantic verbal elaboration of the names of pictures on free recall, picture-name recognition, and picture recognition. Elaboration was manipulated by having subjects decide if the names of pictures contained two letters, rhymed with another word, or were appropriate in a sentence frame. Semantic elaboration of the names of pictures in sentence contexts requiring positive responses resulted in better name recall (Experiment 1) and name recognition (Experiments 1 and 2) than did nonsemantic elaborations (rhyme- and letter-identification tasks). However, the effects of elaborating pictures-names were greatly reduced for picture recognition (Experiments 3 and 4). The results are described in terms of elaborative processing after semantic access. Following initial semantic access, the names of pictures may be further elaborated. Semantic elaboration of the names of pictures typically leads to better retention than does nonsemantic elaboration. However, perceptual records about the appearance of objects may be relatively independent of orienting tasks that elaborate pictures- names.     

The use of a real-time computer diary for data acquisition and processing

Behavioural researchers have long relied on the use of diaries for the collection of self-report data. We discuss the characteristics of a programmable hand-held computer used to collect hourly and event generated data for 7 days on 20 subjects with panic disorder. In the application described, subjects answered a series of 19 or more questions on the hour from 0700 to 2300 or when they were having a panic attack. Subjects completed 88% of all the hourly ratings (range 64-98%). The system was well accepted by the subjects and provided relatively inexpensive data collection and management.     

The development of emotional face and eye gaze processing

Recent research has demonstrated that infants' attention towards novel objects is affected by an adult's emotional expression and eye gaze toward the object. The current event-related potential (ERP) study investigated how infants at 3, 6, and 9 months of age process fearful compared to neutral faces looking toward objects or averting gaze away from objects. Furthermore, we examined how the processing of novel objects is affected by gaze direction and emotional expression. We hypothesized that an adult's fearful expression should be particularly salient when it is directed toward a referent in the environment. Furthermore, responses to objects should be increased if the face previously expressed fear toward the object. Three-month-olds did not show differential neural responses to fearful vs. neutral faces regardless of gaze direction. Six-month-olds showed an enhanced negative central (Nc) component for fearful relative to neutral faces looking toward objects, but not when eye gaze was averted away from the objects. Furthermore, 6-month-olds showed an enhanced Nc for objects that had been gaze-cued by a fearful compared to a neutral face. Nine-month-olds showed an enhanced Nc for fearful relative to neutral faces in both eye gaze conditions and showed an enhanced Nc for objects that had been gaze-cued by a neutral face. The findings are discussed in the context of social cognitive and brain development.     

Visual imagery differences and eye movements in the recall of pictures

Groups of vivid and poor visualizers were given a picture memory task. and horizontal and vertical components of the electro-oculogram were recorded. This allowed a detailed investigation of each S’s eye movements in the perception. imagery, and recall phases of the task. The vivid visualizers gave a higher accuracy of recall Eye movement rate was lower in visual imagery than it was in perception, especially in the goup of vivid visualizers. There was some evidence of scanning activity prior to recall, but only if positional cues were provided or if recall was incorrect. No scanning occurred prior to accurate recall unprompted by a positional cue. These results provide no support to the theories of image construction proposed by Hebb (1949, 1968) and Neisser (1967). As suggested by Singer (1966), an absence of eye movement may be a necessary condition for vivid visual imagery.     

Gs Invaders: Assessing a computer game-like test of processing speed

Computer games potentially offer a useful research tool for psychology but there has been little use made of them in assessing cognitive abilities. Two studies assessing the viability of a computer game-like test of cognitive processing speed are described. In Experiment 1, a computerized coding task that uses a mouse responsemethod (McPherson & Burns, 2005) was the basis for a simple computer game-like test. In Experiment 2, dynamic game-like elements were added. Validity was assessed within a factor analytic framework using standardized abilities tests as marker tests. We conclude that computer game-like tests of processing speed may provide an alternative or supplementary tool for research and assessment. There is clearly potential to develop game-like tests for other cognitive abilities.     

Developmental changes in the semantic processing of pictures and words

Second- and fifth-graders' semantic decision times for pictures and words were analyzed relative to the predictions derived from unitary- and dual-memory models. At both grade levels, word-word response latencies were greater than picture-word latencies which, in turn, were greater than picture-picture latencies. An interaction between Grade and Condition indicated that verbal access times decreased more than pictorial access times. The data fit the predictions of a memory model postulating category storage in a single memory system as opposed to simultaneous representation in verbal and nonverbal memory systems. It was concluded that with increasing experience verbal access to this single semantic system is more rapid.     

Digital computer estimation of eye fixations

A method is presented for estimating eye fixations to the degree of accuracy desired. In the process, the quantity of data is greatly reduced so that analysis can be accomplished at the end of each experimental run. The algorithm is particularly suitable for “slow” computers because the analog-to-digital conversion rate can be low and because the data reduction process decreases the number of calculations required to obtain the analytical results.     

Visual saliency and semantic incongruency influence eye movements when inspecting pictures

Models of low-level saliency predict that when we first look at a photograph our first few eye movements should be made towards visually conspicuous objects. Two experiments investigated this prediction by recording eye fixations while viewers inspected pictures of room interiors that contained objects with known saliency characteristics. Highly salient objects did attract fixations earlier than less conspicuous objects, but only in a task requiring general encoding of the whole picture. When participants were required to detect the presence of a small target, then the visual saliency of nontarget objects did not influence fixations. These results support modifications of the model that take the cognitive override of saliency into account by allowing task demands to reduce the saliency weights of task-irrelevant objects.

The pictures sometimes contained incongruent objects that were taken from other rooms. These objects were used to test the hypothesis that previous reports of the early fixation of congruent objects have not been consistent because the effect depends upon the visual conspicuity of the incongruent object. There was an effect of incongruency in both experiments, with earlier fixation of objects that violated the gist of the scene, but the effect was only apparent for inconspicuous objects, which argues against the hypothesis.     

Visual saliency and semantic incongruency influence eye movements when inspecting pictures

Models of low-level saliency predict that when we first look at a photograph our first few eye movements should be made towards visually conspicuous objects. Two experiments investigated this prediction by recording eye fixations while viewers inspected pictures of room interiors that contained objects with known saliency characteristics. Highly salient objects did attract fixations earlier than less conspicuous objects, but only in a task requiring general encoding of the whole picture. When participants were required to detect the presence of a small target, then the visual saliency of nontarget objects did not influence fixations. These results support modifications of the model that take the cognitive override of saliency into account by allowing task demands to reduce the saliency weights of task-irrelevant objects.

The pictures sometimes contained incongruent objects that were taken from other rooms. These objects were used to test the hypothesis that previous reports of the early fixation of congruent objects have not been consistent because the effect depends upon the visual conspicuity of the incongruent object. There was an effect of incongruency in both experiments, with earlier fixation of objects that violated the gist of the scene, but the effect was only apparent for inconspicuous objects, which argues against the hypothesis.     

Rotational and translational components of motion parallax: observers' sensitivity and implications for three-dimensional computer graphics

The motion of objects during motion parallax can be decomposed into 2 observer-relative components: translation and rotation. The depth ratio of objects in the visual field is specified by the inverse ratio of their angular displacement (from translation) or equivalently by the inverse ratio of their rotations. Despite the equal mathematical status of these 2 information sources, it was predicted that observers would be far more sensitive to the translational than rotational component. Such a differential sensitivity is implicitly assumed by the computer graphics technique billboarding, in which 3-dimensional (3-D) objects are drawn as planar forms (i.e., billboards) maintained normal to the line of sight. In 3 experiments, observers were found to be consistently less sensitive to rotational anomalies. The implications of these findings for kinetic depth effect displays and billboarding techniques are discussed.     

Cognitive masking in rapid sequential processing: The effect of an emotional picture on preceding and succeeding pictures

This experiment assessed the effect of an emotional pictorial input on the processing of preceding and succeeding pictorial inputs. Thirty-nine individual pictures were successively presented for 165 msec, with a 500-msec dark interval between each item. The 20th input item was either an emotional or a neutral picture; the remaining 38 items were neutral sketches. Postinput recognition data indicated a processing disruption of several pictorial items following the emotional as compared to the neutral input and a possible processing disruption of the item immediately preceding the emotional stimulus. The outcome suggests nonindependence in the processing of separate picture inputs in rapid sequential presentations.