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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning
Published on: November 2, 2012
The prioritization of perceptual processing in categorization
1Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, England. d.guest@warwick.ac.uk
Abstract:
In three experiments, the effects of selective attention on perceptual processes in a complex multidimensional object categorization task were investigated. In each experiment, participants completed a perceptual-matching task to gain estimates of the perceptual salience of each stimulus dimension, then a categorization task using the same stimuli. In Experiments 1 and 2, the perceptual processing of stimulus dimensions was faster when dimensions were more diagnostic of category membership, regardless of their perceptual salience. Experiment 3 demonstrated that this prioritization of perceptual processing was evident even when stimuli were presented in unpredictable locations during categorization, indicating that the physical characteristics of the stimulus guide selective attention to diagnostic stimulus dimensions.
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