Wholes, holes, and basic features in vision
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Using Looming Visual Stimuli to Evaluate Mouse Vision
Published on: June 13, 2019
1Department of Psychology, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA. pomeran@rice.edu
Abstract:
A key issue for theories of perception is specifying the primitives used by the visual system to isolate and identify the objects in an image. Although local features are typically suggested, there is good reason to look for global, configural features as primitives too. Chen et al.'s specific proposal of topological features is both explicit and capable of capturing important global information. It may seem surprising that topology can be detected by honeybees, but Chen's results are in keeping with other findings from humans that global properties are sometimes perceived better than local ones and thus might be basic.
Related Concept Videos
Vision
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision
Visual System
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
Anatomy of the Eyeball
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Color Vision

