Dynamic Perceptual Objects

摘要

A perceptual object is created when an observer perceives a single "thing" even though it is comprised of separately perceptible components. A perceptual object has permanence across changes in position and, within limits, changes in the arrangement or composition of the constituent parts. The present research is an examination of the emergence of perceptual objects solely from the dynamics of data presentation. Ten participants viewed presentations of dot patterns that varied in persistence, color, and opacity. Half the presentations were set to have parameters optimized to promote object perception. The same data were also presented with other (non-optimized) settings. Participants correctly detected about 95% of the targets presented with optimized settings and less than 5% of the same targets with non-optimized settings. There were very few false alarms. Participants perceived a unitary object that was hopping from place to place on display despite changes in speed, direction, or color.