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Origami Inspired Self-assembly of Patterned and Reconfigurable Particles
Published on: February 4, 2013
A new set of 84 colored nonobjects.
Carrie A Ankerstein1, Rosemary A Varley2, Patricia E Cowell2
1Department of Human Communication Sciences, University of Sheffield, 31 Claremont Crescent, S10 2TA, Sheffield, England. c.ankerstein@sheffield.ac.uk.
Behavior Research Methods
|February 3, 2009
Summary
Researchers created 84 novel nonobjects for cognitive research. These nonobjects were recognized as plausible, but required longer decision times compared to real objects in an object decision task (ODT).
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Visual Perception
Background:
- The creation of novel stimuli is crucial for understanding object recognition.
- Previous research has utilized pseudowords to study lexical processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel set of 84 nonobjects derived from real object images.
- To evaluate nonobjects based on resemblance, visual complexity, and performance in an object decision task (ODT).
Main Methods:
- Generation of 84 nonobjects using existing colored object pictures.
- Assessment of nonobjects using object resemblance ratings and visual complexity evaluations.
- Performance measurement via an object decision task (ODT) comparing nonobjects to real objects.
Main Results:
- Nonobjects were rated as plausible and showed resemblance to real objects.
- Visual complexity of nonobjects was comparable to that of real objects.
- Response times (RTs) in the ODT were significantly longer for nonobjects than for real objects.
Conclusions:
- The developed nonobject set serves as a valuable tool for cognitive research.
- The longer RTs for nonobjects in the ODT demonstrate a "nonobject advantage" analogous to the lexicality effect in word recognition.
- This set offers a companion resource to real object pictures, available in color and grayscale.

