Novel popout: Empirical boundaries and tentative theory.

Observers received glimpses of 4-word arrays and were probed for the locations of particular words. Familiar words were repeated across arrays but novel words were not. Accuracy was higher for familiar than for novel arrays, but this baseline difference was diminished when a single novel word appeared with 3 familiar words. In these arrays, accuracy rose above baseline for novel words, defining novel popout (NPO), and fell below baseline for familiar words, defining familiar sink-in (FSI). In Exps 1–4, NPO remained intact and FSI actually increased as duration of array exposure was reduced from 200 msec to as brief as 33 msec. At brief exposures, even familiar words popped out from fields in which they had never before appeared. NPO is attributed to the distribution of locations associated with bottom-up-top-down mismatches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Novel popout: An enigma for conventional theories of attention.

Novel items are more localizable when they appear as singletons in otherwise familiar arrays than when they appear with other novel items. The concept of attention as a gatekeeper between preattentive processing and postattentive processing affords 2 generic explanations of this novel-popout effect: Novel singletons can either capture attention automatically or be especially likely to be encountered during a serial search. Experiment 1 discredited the capture explanation by showing that a reduction in duration of array exposure from 200 to 50 ms reduced localizability as much for novel singletons as for any other items. Experiments 1 and 2 both discredited the search explanation by showing that the relative localizability of novel singletons was unaffected by either the presumed rate of search through the familiar fields or the location of the singletons in the presumed order of search. The conclusion was that novel popout is attributable to neither attention capture nor search. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linguistic and Conceptual Influences on Adjective Acquisition in 24- and 36-Month-Olds.

Two hundred forty English-speaking toddlers (24- and 36-month-olds) heard novel adjectives applied to familiar objects (Experiment 1) and novel objects (Experiment 2). Children were successful in mapping adjectives to target properties only when information provided by the noun, in conjunction with participants' knowledge of the objects, provided coherent category information: when basic-level nouns or superordinate-level nouns were used with familiar objects, when novel basic-level nouns were used with novel objects, and-for 36-month-olds-when the nouns were underspecified with respect to category (thing or one) but participants could nonetheless infer a category from pragmatic and conceptual knowledge. These results provide evidence concerning how nouns influence adjective learning, and they support the notion that toddlers consider pragmatic factors when learning new words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reassessing the evidence for novel popout.

J. Christie and R. Klein ( 1996) have reviewed some of our previously published evidence for novel popout (i.e., the possible attention-capturing power of unexpected or novel singletons in otherwise expected or familiar fields). They have questioned the reliability of some of the evidence and suggested that it, in any case, does not compel an attention-capture interpretation. In this rejoinder, we bolster the evidence with more recent data and argue that Christie and Klein's alternative interpretations are deficient on both empirical and theoretical grounds. However, we concede (a) that most of the evidence is not decisive with respect to whether the effects associated with novel popout reflect perceptual or retrieval (or both) biases toward novel singletons and (b) that innovative methodologies and converging lines of evidence could help resolve this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of stimulus complexity and familiarization time on infant preferences for novel and familiar stimuli.

Measures of visual fixation (VF) and of focused manipulation of an array of familiar and of novel toys were evaluated for 32 8-mo-olds and 32 12-mo-olds for whom both arrays contained 3 toys and 32 12-mo-olds for whom both arrays contained 5 toys. Prior to testing, half of the Ss in each group had been habituated to the familiar array, whereas the other half had been familiarized but interrupted before habituation could be completed. Results show that habituated Ss in each group preferred to look at and manipulate toys in a novel array. In contrast, interrupted Ss preferred toys in a familiar array, but only if the array was complex relative to age (3 toys for 8-mo-olds and 5 toys for 12-mo-olds) and only with the focused manipulation measure. If the stimulus was simple and/or the response measured was VF, interrupted Ss showed no preference for either array. Findings provide evidence of a progression from familiarity preference to novelty preference that is not tied to a particular age but occurs repeatedly as new stimuli are encountered. Age-related changes are present, however, in the effective complexity of the stimuli, the amount of familiarization, and the form of response necessary to elicit the progression. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context effects on remembering and knowing: The expectancy heuristic.

Three experiments are reported examining the effect of context on remember-know judgments. In Experiments 1 and 2, medium-frequency words were intermixed with high-frequency or low-frequency words at study or at test, respectively. Remember responses were greater for medium-frequency targets when they were studied or tested among high-frequency, as compared with low-frequency, words. The authors proposed a decision-based mechanism called "the expectancy heuristic" to explain why remember responses were more likely when items were studied or tested in the context of words that were relatively less distinct. According to the expectancy heuristic, when items on a recognition test exceed an expected level of memorability they will be given a remember judgment but when they do not, but are still more familiar than new words, they will be given a know judgment. Experiment 3, which varied expectancies about the strength of tested targets, demonstrated the use of the expectancy heuristic, indicating that it operates by selectively influencing the remember criterion rather than by influencing recollection of studied items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing the evidence for novel popout.

Between 1990 and 1994, Johnston and colleagues (K. J. Hawley, W.A. Johnston, & J.M. Farnham, see record 1994-35960-001); W. A. Johnston, K. J. Hawley, J. M. Farnham, 1993; W. A. Johnston, K. J. Hawley, S. H. Plewe, J. M. G. Elliott, & M. I. DeWitt, 1990) published 3 articles on a phenomenon they designated "novel popout." The typical interpretation of their findings is that a novel item rapidly and automatically attracts attention when displayed with familiar ones. J. Christie and R. Klein first show that the empirical pattern on which this claim is based can be easily explained in terms of a simple cognitive-load principle and note that effects not subject to this principle (or probability confounds) are rare in the target articles. We then show that these latter effects can be easily explained without assuming visual orienting toward the novel item. Finally, we outline 2 criteria that must be satisfied in order to make claims about the rapid orienting of attention in arrays with familiar and unfamiliar items, neither of which were met in any of the reviewed experiments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Priming of familiar and unfamiliar visual objects over delays in young and older adults.

Although priming of familiar stimuli is usually age invariant, little is known about how aging affects priming of preexperimentally unfamiliar stimuli. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of aging and encoding-to-test delays (0 min, 20 min, 90 min, and 1 week) on priming of unfamiliar objects in block-based priming paradigms. During the encoding phase, participants viewed pictures of novel objects (Experiments 1 and 2) or novel and familiar objects (Experiment 3) and judged their left–right orientation. In the test block, priming was measured using the possible–impossible object-decision test (Experiment 1), symmetric–asymmetric object-decision test (Experiment 2), and real–nonreal object-decision test (Experiment 3). In Experiments 1 and 2, young adults showed priming for unfamiliar objects at all delays, whereas older adults whose baseline task performance was similar to that of young adults did not show any priming. Experiment 3 found no effects of age or delay on priming of familiar objects; however, priming of unfamiliar objects was only observed in the young participants. This suggests that when older adults cannot rely on preexisting memory representations, age-related deficits in priming can emerge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recovery of 3D volume from 2-tone images of novel objects

In 2-tone images (e.g., Dallenbach's cow), only two levels of brightness are used to convey image structure-dark object regions and shadows are turned to black and light regions are light regions are turned white. Despite a lack of shading, hue and texture information, many 2-tone images of familiar objects and scenes are accurately interpreted, even by naive observers. Objects frequently appear fully volumetric and are distinct from their shadows. If perceptual interpretation of 2-tone images is accomplished via bottom-up processes on the basis of geometrical structure projected to the image (e.g., volumetric parts, contour and junction information) novel objects should appear volumetric as readily as their familiar counterparts. We demonstrate that accurate volumetric representations are rarely extracted from 2-tone images of novel objects, even when these objects are constructed from volumetric primitives such as generalized cones (Marr, D., Nishihara, H.K., 1978. Proceedings of the Royal Society London 200, 269-294; Biederman, I. 1985. Computer Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing 32, 29-73), or from the rearranged components of a familiar object which is itself recognizable as a 2-tone image. Even familiar volumes such as canonical bricks and cylinders require scenes with redundant structure (e.g., rows of cylinders) or explicit lighting (a lamp in the image) for recovery of global volumetric shape. We conclude that 2-tone image perception is not mediated by bottom-up extraction of geometrical features such as junctions or volumetric parts, but may rely on previously stored representations in memory and a model of the illumination of the scene. The success of this top-down strategy implies it is available for general object recognition in natural scenes.     

Preschoolers monitor the relative accuracy of informants.

In 2 studies, the sensitivity of 3- and 4-year-olds to the previous accuracy of informants was assessed. Children viewed films in which 2 informants labeled familiar objects with differential accuracy (across the 2 experiments, children were exposed to the following rates of accuracy by the more and less accurate informants, respectively: 100% vs. 0%, 100% vs. 25%, 75% vs. 0%, and 75% vs. 25%). Next, children watched films in which the same 2 informants provided conflicting novel labels for unfamiliar objects. Children were asked to indicate which of the 2 labels was associated with each object. Three-year-olds trusted the more accurate informant only in conditions in which 1 of the 2 informants had been 100% accurate, whereas 4-year-olds trusted the more accurate informant in all conditions tested. These results suggest that 3-year-olds mistrust informants who make a single error, whereas 4-year-olds track the relative frequency of errors when deciding whom to trust. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Posterior capsulorhexis with optic capture in pediatric cataract and intraocular lens surgery

To study brain regions involved in familiarity discrimination, rats were shown sets of novel and familiar objects. On each trial two objects were shown simultaneously to a rat so that one eye saw a novel object while the other saw a familiar object. Thus novel and familiar objects were seen with the same conditions of alertness and eye movements. Activated neurones were revealed by staining for products of the immediate early gene c-fos. Familiar stimuli activated significantly fewer neurones than novel stimuli in perirhinal cortex and area TE of temporal cortex, and the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, but not in the hippocampus or other areas sampled. These findings are discussed in relation to recognition memory.     

Beauty as an emotion: The exhilarating prospect of mastering a challenging world.

Beauty has received sparse attention from emotion theorists, some of whom have argued that aesthetic pleasure is cognitive in nature and too "disinterested" to be emotional. This view is supported by research suggesting that aesthetic pleasure is based on processing fluency. The authors review recent findings in the psychology of aesthetics and present two arguments. First, processing fluency explains the mild pleasure associated with simple or familiar objects, but it cannot account for the more intense pleasure associated with complex or novel objects. Immediately recognizing an object tends to be mildly pleasant, whereas sensing the prospect of successfully representing a complex object can be exhilarating. Second, to explain how these forms of aesthetic pleasures differ, a theory must go beyond cognitive dynamics. The authors' affect-based model of emotion differentiates aesthetic pleasures in terms of epistemic goals. Pretty, fluently processed stimuli implicate prevention goals that maintain and protect knowledge. Beautiful, novel stimuli implicate promotion goals that reshape and expand knowledge. The emotional nature of interest and awe are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental models change rapidly with implicitly acquired information about the local environment: A two-tone image study.

The projection of 3-D objects to 2-D images necessitates a loss of information, thus the shape of volumetric objects depicted in images is inherently ambiguous. The results of 3 experiments suggest observers use mental models of the local visual environment to constrain image interpretation. These models change quickly and dramatically to accommodate implicitly acquired information. Observers viewed very high-contrast (2-tone) images of novel volumetric objects. Before priming, novel 2-tone images appeared 2-D. After incidental exposure to similar objects in grayscale or familiar objects in 2-tone, the test images appeared volumetric. Incidental learning appears to alter observers' mental models, thus causing an alteration in image interpretation in the absence of any image change. Highlights were interpreted more accurately than shadows, suggesting shadows play a secondary role in shape recovery. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial memory for objects and words.

Examined in 4 experiments whether spatial location information is more likely to be encoded with the memory representation of objects than of words. 16 objects or the 1-word verbal labels for each were studied on a matrix display, followed by a recall test and then a relocation test. In each experiment, an independent variable known to affect item recall was introduced to test whether spatial location memory would concomitantly vary for both objects and words. In Exp I, with 48 2nd graders, 48 5th graders, and 48 high school juniors and seniors, recall of both objects and words increased with age of the Ss. However, relocation accuracy increased for objects but not for words. In Exp II, with 64 4th graders and 64 high school juniors and seniors, visual imagery instructions generally improved memory for words without affecting relocation accuracy. In Exps III (with 56 undergraduates) and IV (with 80 adults, aged 26.2–52.3 yrs), prolonging the test delay diminished recall for objects and words. However, relocation accuracy decreased only for the objects. In each experiment, item memory was affected independently of location memory for words but not for objects. The results suggest that different processes are involved in encoding item and location information for words but not for objects. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repetition blindness for rotated objects.

Repetition blindness (RB) is the finding that observers often miss the repetition of an item within a rapid stream of words or objects. Recent studies have shown that RB for objects is largely unaffected by variations in viewpoint between the repeated items. In 5 experiments, we tested RB under different axes of rotation, with different types of stimuli (line drawings and shaded images, intact and split), using both novel and familiar objects. Although RB was largely viewpoint invariant, in most experiments, RB was reduced for small (0°) and large (180°) viewpoint differences relative to intermediate rotations. However, these deviations from invariance were eliminated when object images were split, breaking the holistic coherence of the object. These findings suggest that RB is due mainly to the activation of object representations from local diagnostic features, but can be modulated by priming on the basis of view similarity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual search as a function of type of prior experience with target and distractor.

In a visual search task, participants identified the presence of a unique shape against a background of homogeneous distractors. Types of prior experience with the target, the distractor, or both were examined. In 2 experiments, a preexposure (PE) phase was followed by a test phase. The test display consisted of a target that was either target or distractor in PE or novel. Distractors were either targets or distractors in PE or novel. Reaction time was fastest for novel targets with familiar distractors, irrespective of the source of familiarity, and slowest for novel targets with novel distractors. Results are discussed in terms of attentional explanations of latent inhibition (LI) and perceptual learning and of visual search phenomena, such as novel popout. LI, previously attributed only to a deficit in the stimulus preexposed group, may also be due to enhanced performance in the nonpreexposed group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of the novelty or familiarity of visual stimuli on the expression of the immediate early gene c-fos in rat brain

To investigate substrates of recognition memory, the cellular expression of Fos protein in rat brain has been studied after groups of rats were either shown sets of novel or highly familiar objects, or were exposed to the same pattern of illumination without objects being shown. Counts of stained nuclei were made in eight brain regions, where information about novel or familiar visual stimuli is likely to be processed or stored. The counts were relatively high in occipital visual association cortex and area TE of temporal cortex, intermediate in perirhinal cortex, entorhinal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and the diagonal band of Broca, and low in the hippocampal formation and mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus. The number of Fos-stained cells was significantly higher for the rats shown novel objects than for those shown familiar objects in perirhinal cortex, area TE, occipital cortex and anterior cingulate cortex. Arguments are advanced that these differences in counts indicate areas involved in the processing and/or storage of information about the novelty or familiarity of visual stimuli, information important to recognition memory.     

Effects of Alzheimer's disease on the recognition of novel versus familiar words: Neuropsychological and clinico-metabolic data.

This study explored recognition memory performance for novel versus familiar words in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and normal controls (NCs), using an adaptation of E. Tulving and N. Kroll's (1995) procedure. Results showed that both groups exhibited more hits and more false alarms for familiar than for novel words. The groups did not differ in the recognition of familiar words, reflecting preserved familiarity processes in AD. However, AD patients made more false alarms than NCs in the recognition of novel words, reflecting impairment of recollection processes in AD. A positron emission tomography analysis of clinico-metabolic correlations in AD patients showed a correlation between recognition of novel words and right hippocampal activity, whereas recognition of familiar words was more related to metabolic activity in the left posterior orbitofrontal cortex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex Differences in the Behavioral Response to Spatial and Object Novelty in Adult C57BL/6 Mice.

The present studies examined sex differences in object localization and recognition in C57BL/6 mice. Experiment 1 measured responses to spatial novelty (object displacement) and object novelty (object substitution). Males strongly preferred displaced and substituted objects over unchanged objects, whereas females showed a preference in only 1 measure of object novelty. Experiment 2 further examined object recognition by presenting mice with 2 identical objects, followed 24 hr or 7 days later by testing with a familiar and a novel object. After 24 hr, males preferentially explored the novel object, whereas females exhibited no such preference. Neither sex displayed a preference for the novel object after 7 days. The data suggest that male mice are superior to females at localizing and recognizing objects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preferences for familiar or novel toys: Effect of familiarization time in 1-year-olds.

32 Ss were tested in 2 familiarization procedures: Ss in one group were habituated to a stringent criterion on an array of 5 toys, whereas Ss in another group were familiarized but interrupted before habituation could be completed. In a subsequent 10-min test trial, the familiar array and a comparable novel array were available for both groups. In general, habituated Ss spent more time exploring the novel array, and the interrupted Ss, the familiar array. It is concluded that preference for novel and familiar stimuli is not an age-dependent phenomenon but instead depends on when stimuli are introduced during the habituation process. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)