Abstract
Can we find an object-based encoding benefit in visual short-term memory (VSTM) when the features to be remembered are from different parts of an object? Using object parts defined by either figure-ground separation or negative minima of curvature, results from five experiments in which the visual change detection paradigm was used showed that the object-based encoding benefit in VSTM is modulated by how features are assigned to parts of an object: Features are best retained when the color and shape features to be remembered belong to the same part of an object.Although less well retained in comparison, features from different parts of an object are still better remembered than features from spatially separated objects.An object-based feature binding therefore exists even when the color and shape features to be remembered are from different parts of an object.
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This research is based on parts of a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under the mentorship of Mary C.Potter.This research was supported by Grant MH 47432 from the National Institute ofMental Health toM.C.Potter and by a McDonnell-Pew Investigator Initiated Grant in Cognitive Neuroscience to Y.X.Some of the research reported here was presented at the 7th AnnualWorkshop on Object Perception, Attention and Memory, Los Angeles, November 1999.
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Xu, Y. Encoding color and shape from different parts of an object in visual short-term memory. Perception & Psychophysics 64, 1260–1280 (2002). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194770
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194770