Conceptual penetration of visual processing
- PMID: 20483847
- PMCID: PMC4152984
- DOI: 10.1177/0956797610366099
Conceptual penetration of visual processing
Abstract
In traditional hierarchical models of information processing, visual representations feed into conceptual systems, but conceptual categories do not exert an influence on visual processing. We provide evidence, across four experiments, that conceptual information can in fact penetrate early visual processing, rather than merely biasing the output of perceptual systems. Participants performed physical-identity judgments on visually equidistant pairs of letter stimuli that were either in the same conceptual category (Bb) or in different categories (Bp). In the case of nonidentical letters, response times were longer when the stimuli were from the same conceptual category, but only when the letters were presented sequentially. The differences in effect size between simultaneous and sequential trials rules out a decision-level account. An additional experiment using animal silhouettes replicated the major effects found with letters. Thus, performance on an explicitly visual task was influenced by conceptual categories. This effect depended on processing time, immediately preceding experience, and stimulus typicality, which suggests that it was produced by the direct influence of category knowledge on perception, rather than by a postperceptual decision bias.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared that they had no conflicts of interests with respect to their authorship and/or the publication of this article.
Figures






Similar articles
-
Influence of category identity on letter matching: conceptual penetration of visual processing or response competition?Atten Percept Psychophys. 2012 May;74(4):716-29. doi: 10.3758/s13414-011-0264-x. Atten Percept Psychophys. 2012. PMID: 22231606
-
The effects of concurrent task interference on category learning: evidence for multiple category learning systems.Psychon Bull Rev. 2001 Mar;8(1):168-76. doi: 10.3758/bf03196154. Psychon Bull Rev. 2001. PMID: 11340863
-
Effects of perceptual redundancy, conceptual redundancy and self-relatedness on categorical responses.Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2024 Nov;77(11):2165-2179. doi: 10.1177/17470218241237729. Epub 2024 Mar 28. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2024. PMID: 38389154 Free PMC article.
-
A further test of sequential-sampling models that account for payoff effects on response bias in perceptual decision tasks.Percept Psychophys. 2008 Feb;70(2):229-56. doi: 10.3758/pp.70.2.229. Percept Psychophys. 2008. PMID: 18372746
-
Knowledge is power: how conceptual knowledge transforms visual cognition.Psychon Bull Rev. 2014 Aug;21(4):843-60. doi: 10.3758/s13423-013-0564-3. Psychon Bull Rev. 2014. PMID: 24402731 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
Revisiting the empirical case against perceptual modularity.Front Psychol. 2015 Nov 4;6:1676. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01676. eCollection 2015. Front Psychol. 2015. PMID: 26583001 Free PMC article.
-
The effects of alphabet and expertise on letter perception.J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2016 Aug;42(8):1186-203. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000213. Epub 2016 Feb 25. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2016. PMID: 26913778 Free PMC article.
-
Implied motion language can influence visual spatial memory.Mem Cognit. 2017 Jul;45(5):852-862. doi: 10.3758/s13421-017-0699-y. Mem Cognit. 2017. PMID: 28299726
-
Automatic frame-centered object representation and integration revealed by iconic memory, visual priming, and backward masking.J Vis. 2012 Oct 25;12(11):24. doi: 10.1167/12.11.24. J Vis. 2012. PMID: 23104817 Free PMC article.
-
Nonverbal category knowledge limits the amount of information encoded in object representations: EEG evidence from 12-month-old infants.R Soc Open Sci. 2021 Mar 31;8(3):200782. doi: 10.1098/rsos.200782. R Soc Open Sci. 2021. PMID: 34035932 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Cohen A, Nosofsky R. An exemplar-retrieval model of speeded same-different judgments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. 2000;26:1549–1569. - PubMed
-
- Delorme A, Rousselet G, Mace M, Fabre-Thorpe M. Interaction of top-down and bottom-up processing in the fast visual analysis of natural scenes. Cognitive Brain Research. 2004;19:103–113. - PubMed
-
- Foxe J, Simpson G. Flow of activation from V1 to frontal cortex in humans: A framework for defining "early" visual processing. Experimental Brain Research. 2002;142:139–150. - PubMed
-
- Gilbert A, Regier T, Kay P, Ivry R. Support for lateralization of the Whorfian effect beyond the realm of color discrimination. Brain and Language. 2008;105:91–98. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources