Interactive processing among parts, configuration, and orientation of complex objects.

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the representation of parts and the configuration and orientation of complex objects were separate or interdependent. Participants were asked to match parts and configuration of novel 3-D objects with constant or varied features in irrelevant dimensions. The results of both Exp. 1 (sequential matching) and Exp. 2 (simultaneous matching) showed that both sensitivity and response time (RT) of part matching were influenced by whether the irrelevant configuration remained constant or varied. Both sensitivity and RT for configuration matching were affected by the variation of irrelevant parts in Exp. 2, but only sensitivity was affected in Exp. 1. These results demonstrated an interdependent pattern of representations of parts and relations but different interactive patterns in memory and perception. The results of Exp. 3 showed orientation dependency in a configuration-matching task but orientation invariance in a part-matching task. Consistent with a study done in 2000 by Edelman and Intrator, these results suggest an interactive processing between configuration and orientation but an independent processing between the parts and orientation.