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The relationship between object files and conscious perception.

Stephen R Mitroff1, Brian J Scholl, Karen Wynn

  • 1Department of Psychology, Yale University, Box 208205, New Haven, CT 06520-8205, USA. stephen.mitroff@yale.edu

Cognition
|April 19, 2005
PubMed
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Conscious perception of object movement can differ from how object files track objects. Even when observers perceived streaming, object files indicated bouncing, revealing a dissociation in visual perception.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Visual Perception

Background:

  • Object files (OFs) are theoretical constructs proposed to represent persisting objects and track their identities and locations over time.
  • The object-file framework is influential but lacks direct empirical evidence linking OFs to conscious visual percepts.
  • Previous research has not directly tested if the 'which went where' information computed by OFs aligns with conscious awareness.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether conscious percepts of object trajectories align with the computations performed by the object-file system.
  • To examine discrepancies between subjective experience and implicit measures of object tracking in ambiguous visual displays.
  • To test the hypothesis that object files directly correspond to conscious perception of object continuity.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a 'bouncing/streaming' visual paradigm with ambiguous object motion.
  • Measured explicit reports of perceived motion (bouncing vs. streaming).
  • Assessed implicit object tracking using the object-specific preview benefit (OSPB), a measure sensitive to object file activity.

Main Results:

  • Despite a strong conscious bias towards perceiving 'streaming' (over 95% of trials), a significant OSPB indicated that object files computed 'bouncing'.
  • This dissociation occurred even when visual displays were manipulated to create a strong perceptual bias.
  • The results demonstrate a divergence between conscious experience and object-file computations.

Conclusions:

  • Conscious perception of 'which went where' can dissociate from the object-file system's internal representation.
  • The object-file system may operate independently of, or in contrast to, conscious awareness in certain dynamic scenarios.
  • These findings challenge the direct correspondence between object files and conscious visual percepts, particularly in ecologically limited display types.