FIGURE-GROUND SEGREGATION AND VISUAL SEARCH

Abstract

This study addressed the issue of how location is coded in the visual system. Specifically, the claim investigated was that locations are coded hierarchically, whereby only the location of items interpreted by the visual system as objects are coded in relation to the visual scene (Watt, 1988). The location of items defined as object parts are proposed to be coded, via a secondary analysis, in relation to its parent object. Findings from two experiments that utilised a locate-then-identify task provide evidence for this proposal. The typical finding was that targets that functioned as object parts were located slower than targets that had the status of objects.