Chapter 1. Contour Deletion

1.1 Introduction

This experiment will replicate aspects of the work done by Biederman and Cooper (1991) on the perceptual phenomenon known as contour deletion.

In this experiment, drawings of three-dimensional objects will be presented as primes for later presentations of images that are similar in a variety of ways. For each of the images, some of the edges and borders have been removed or occluded so that a partial image of the object is presented.

1.2 Experiment Setup

1.3 Instructions

You will need to press the space bar to begin the experiment. Two images will be presented sequentially. After the first image is presented, you will identify the object by typing its common name. The second image is related to the first. Your task is to type the common name of the object presented in the second image.

1.4 Experiment

1.5 Results

1.6 Debriefing

In this experiment, drawings of three-dimensional objects were presented as primes for later images that were either the same image, were images with complementary deletions, or were semantically related images. In the deletion conditions, some edges or borders were removed in order to create a partial image of the object. In the semantic condition, a novel exemplar from the same category as the first image was presented (e.g., a grand piano and an upright piano). Reaction times and recognition errors were measured for both the object deletions and semantically related images.

This study was a replication of Biederman and Cooper (1991). In Biederman and Cooper’s original study they were attempting to demonstrate that configurations of features rather than features alone were important for recognition and identification of common objects. The purpose of the inclusion of semantically related images was to control for top-down effects such as familiarity with the objects or memory effects. Biederman and Cooper were interested in demonstrating that object recognition was driven by lower-level perceptual phenomena such as spatial integration of features.

Irving Biederman is best known for his recognition-by-components (RBC) theory, which states that individuals store what he refers to as “geometric ions,” or “geons,” that (the building blocks of all the 3-D objects that we encounter in our world) and that whenever we see a complex object, we identify it by identifying its parts (geons). His RBC theory postulates that there are 36 geons that, in various combinations, compose all of the 3-D objects in our environment.

The Biederman and Cooper (1991) study replicated here provided evidence to support the RBC theory. Specifically, Biederman and Cooper were attempting to demonstrate that both features and their configurations are important for object recognition, a point that was underspecified in the original RBC theory.

References:

Biederman, I., & Cooper, E. E. (1991). Priming contour-deleted images: evidence for intermediate representations in visual object recognition. Cognitive Psychology, 23, 393-419.

Biederman, I. (1987). Recognition-by-components: A theory of human image interpretation. Psychological Review, 94, 115-147.

Biederman, I. & Ju, G. (1988). Surface vs. edge-based determinants of visual recognition. Cognitive Psychology, 20, 38-64.

1.7 Quiz