Scholte H S, Spekreijse H, Roelfsema P R
Department of Visual System Analysis, Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam, Academic Medical Center (UvA), PO Box 12011, 1100AA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Vision Res. 2001 Sep;41(20):2569-80. doi: 10.1016/s0042-6989(01)00148-1.
In a curve-tracing task, subjects have to judge whether items are located on a single, continuous curve. Spatially separate segments of such a curve are related to each other through grouping criteria, like collinearity and connectedness. These grouping cues need to be exploited during curve tracing, but it is still an open issue how grouping of contour segments is achieved by the visual system. Many contemporary theories of visual perception assume that grouping operations are carried out pre-attentively, with unlimited capacity. The present study examines this assumption by investigating the involvement of attention in curve tracing. The results show that attention is directed to contour segments that need to be grouped together. The distribution of attention is guided by grouping criteria, such as connectedness. Apparently, attention is required to group spatially separate contour segments into a coherent representation of a curve.
在一项曲线追踪任务中，受试者必须判断物品是否位于一条单一的连续曲线上。这样一条曲线在空间上分开的部分通过共线性和连通性等分组标准相互关联。在曲线追踪过程中需要利用这些分组线索，但视觉系统如何实现轮廓段的分组仍是一个悬而未决的问题。许多当代视觉感知理论假定分组操作是在无注意力参与的情况下进行的，且具有无限容量。本研究通过调查注意力在曲线追踪中的参与情况来检验这一假定。结果表明，注意力会指向需要组合在一起的轮廓段。注意力的分布由连通性等分组标准引导。显然，需要注意力将空间上分开的轮廓段组合成曲线的连贯表征。
