Turning objects on their heads: The influence of the stored axis on object individuation

Irina M. Harris*, Paul E. Dux

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    14 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We used repetition blindness (RB) as a measure of object recognition and compared the pattern of RB obtained for objects with a well-established upright orientation (mono-oriented objects) and those without a usual upright orientation (polyoriented objects), when the critical objects were either in identical orientations or differed by 30°, 60°, 90°, or 180°. Overall, we found robust RB despite differences in orientation, consistent with the idea that object recognition, as indexed by RB, is largely independent of orientation. However, whereas for polyoriented objects RB was obtained in all orientation conditions, for mono-oriented objects there was no RB between upright and upside-down versions of the stimuli. These findings suggest that the usual orientation of an object - when it exists - is stored in memory and can facilitate orientation processing when the principal axis of a viewed object is aligned with the stored axis orientation. This, in turn, allows for more rapid and successful construction of distinct episodic representations of an object, thus alleviating RB.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1010-1015
    Number of pages6
    JournalPerception and Psychophysics
    Volume67
    Issue number6
    Publication statusPublished - Aug 2005

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