The representation of metric information in scenes

Abstract

<p>Four experiments were conducted that investigated the role of metric information in the identification and episodic recognition of scenes. A fifth experiment examined whether scene identification showed any hemispheric advantage. For scene identification, a priming paradigm was used in which participants were required to identify scenes that were identical, that changed size, or that changed location in the visual field relative to a previously viewed scene. For episodic recognition, participants were required to indicate whether a scene had been viewed previously while ignoring any changes in size or position. The results found a reduced identification or episodic recognition advantage for previously viewed scenes that had changed their size or position in the visual field relative to scenes that were identical to one viewed previously. In addition, no evidence of laterality was found. The results challenge the notion that scenes are treated in the same way by the visual system as objects or faces.</p>