Although object-based attention enhances perceptual processing of information appearing within the boundaries of a selected object, little is known about the consequences for information in the object's surround. The authors show that distance from an attended object's center of mass determines reaction time (RT) to targets in the surround. Of 2…

Recent research shows that speakers of languages with obligatory plural marking (English) preferentially categorize objects based on common shape, whereas speakers of nonplural-marking classifier languages (Yucatec and Japanese) preferentially categorize objects based on common material. The current study extends that investigation to the domain…

Findings showed no preference for the color white over the color black, contrary to previous studies. (Author/DLS)

Four experiments investigated the roles of layout geometry in the selection of intrinsic frames of reference in spatial memory. Participants learned the locations of objects in a room from 2 or 3 viewing perspectives. One view corresponded to the axis of bilateral symmetry of the layout, and the other view(s) was (were) nonorthogonal to the axis…

An analysis of preferences with respect to silhouette drawings of nude females is presented. Systematic intransitivities were discovered. The dispersions of differences (comparatal dispersons) were shown to reflect the multidimensional structure of the stimuli, a finding expected on the basis of prior work. (Author)

Ten severely retarded adults were presented with a matching task in which each of the alternatives to the stimulus that was identical to the target stimulus differed from it on one dimension only. (Author)

Experiment 1 examined the relationship between dimensional preference and proportion of optional reversal shifts among adults. Experiment 2 examined dimensional preference and shift behaviors using an intradimensional-extradimensional shift paradigm. The results indicate that adults show the same type of behavior previously throught to…

To examine the relationship between visual attention in infancy and the stimulus variables of contour and numerosity, 2- and 4-month-olds were placed in three experimental conditions. The results showed that contour and numerosity, acting in tandem, are responsible for the age-complexity shift observed by previous investigators of infant…

A study of the use of multiple form dimensions in pattern classification by children in Grades 2 and 5, and adults. Reliability of classification, number and saliency of features selected, and accuracy with which they were used all implied continuous development of perceptual skills. (Author/ED)

Attempts to determine whether the stimulus dimension to which infants respond is different in fixed-trial and infant-control methodologies. Infants 10 weeks of age were shown four facelike patterns differing along two dimensions: number of elements and extent to which elements were organized to resemble the human face. (Author/RH)

Kindergarten children were given a salience-assessment task to determine each child's salience hierarchy for the dimensions of form, color, and position, and each was provided perceptual training with his/her least salient dimension. Training promoted fewer errors in recall in comparison to control group subjects. (RH)

Results suggest that when the internal element of a compound stimulus is a highly preferred or salient stimulus, young infants will process information about its characteristics. (Author/DB)

Groups of second grade and college students were presented with a series of three-alternative, four-dimensional discrimination problems that contained probes for the subject's hypothesis. Subjects received either complete feedback or partial feedback. In the latter condition, when subjects were told their response choice was incorrect the correct…