Tower-Richardi Sarah M, Leber Andrew B, Golomb Julie D
Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 225 Psychology Building, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
Atten Percept Psychophys. 2016 Jan;78(1):114-32. doi: 10.3758/s13414-015-1002-6.
In recent years, researchers have observed many phenomena demonstrating how the visual system exploits spatial regularities in the environment in order to benefit behavior. In this paper, we question whether spatial priming can be considered one such phenomenon. Spatial priming is defined as a response time facilitation to a visual search target when its spatial position has been repeated in recent trials (Maljkovic & Nakayama, 1996, Perception & Psychophysics, 58, 977-991). Does this priming serve a behaviorally adaptive role or is it merely a byproduct of ongoing visual processing? Critically, an adaptive priming mechanism must actively transform visual inputs from native retinotopic (eye-centered) coordinates into ecologically relevant coordinates, e.g., spatiotopic (world-centered) and/or object-centered. In Experiment 1, we tested this hypothesis by having participants move their eyes between trials, which dissociated retinotopic and spatiotopic frames of reference. Results showed only weak retinotopic priming, but robust spatiotopic priming. The second experiment again had participants move their eyes between trials but also manipulated the placement of a grouped array of display objects from trial to trial. This allowed us to measure not just retinotopic and spatiotopic priming, but object-centered priming as well. Results from this experiment did not yield retinotopic priming but showed robust spatiotopic and object-centered priming. These findings demonstrate that spatial priming operates within ecologically relevant coordinate systems, and the findings support the notion that spatial priming serves an adaptive role in human behavior.
近年来，研究人员观察到了许多现象，这些现象表明视觉系统如何利用环境中的空间规律来使行为受益。在本文中，我们质疑空间启动效应是否可被视为这样一种现象。空间启动效应被定义为当视觉搜索目标的空间位置在最近的试验中重复出现时，对该目标的反应时间缩短（马尔科维奇和中山，1996年，《知觉与心理物理学》，第58卷，第977 - 991页）。这种启动效应是发挥行为适应性作用，还是仅仅是正在进行的视觉处理的副产品？关键在于，一种适应性启动机制必须积极地将来自原始视网膜拓扑（以眼睛为中心）坐标的视觉输入转换为与生态相关的坐标，例如空间拓扑（以世界为中心）和/或以物体为中心的坐标。在实验1中，我们通过让参与者在不同试验之间移动眼睛来测试这一假设，这使得视网膜拓扑和空间拓扑的参照系相互分离。结果显示只有微弱的视网膜拓扑启动效应，但有强烈的空间拓扑启动效应。第二个实验同样让参与者在不同试验之间移动眼睛，而且还在不同试验中操纵一组显示物体的排列位置。这使我们不仅能够测量视网膜拓扑和空间拓扑启动效应，还能测量以物体为中心的启动效应。该实验结果没有产生视网膜拓扑启动效应，但显示出强烈的空间拓扑和以物体为中心的启动效应。这些发现表明空间启动效应在与生态相关的坐标系中起作用，并且这些发现支持了空间启动效应在人类行为中发挥适应性作用的观点。
