Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth perception is the ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally. It relies on two types of cues: binocular and monocular. Binocular cues depend on the combination of images from both eyes and how the eyes work together. Since the eyes are in slightly different positions, each eye captures a slightly different image. This disparity between images, known as binocular disparity, helps the brain interpret depth. When the brain compares these images, it determines the distance to an object.

Distribution and Dispersion

Distribution and Dispersion

To understand intra-specific interactions in populations, scientists measure the spatial arrangement of species individuals. This geographic arrangement is known as the species distribution or dispersion. Highly territorial species exhibit a uniform distribution pattern, in which individuals are spaced at relatively equal distances from one another. Species that are highly tied to particular resources, such as food or shelter, tend to concentrate around those resources, and thus exhibit a...

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Gestalt principles provide a framework for understanding how humans perceive objects as unified wholes within their context. These principles are essential in explaining the cognitive processes that make sense of complex visual stimuli by organizing them into coherent groups. One fundamental principle is proximity, which posits that objects located close to each other are perceived as a collective group. For instance, when dots are positioned near one another, the visual system interprets them...

Parallel Processing

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Testing a sensory preactivation account of attention guidance from visual working memory.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026

Same author

Saccades to spatially extended objects: The roles of observer goals and part-structure cues in determining within-object landing position.

Journal of vision·2026

Same author

Dissociations and interactions between attention guidance from negative templates maintained in visual working memory and long-term memory.

Cognition·2026

Same author

Template-based and saliency-driven attentional control converge to coactivate on a common, spatially organized priority map.

Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance·2025

Same author

Are selection history effects limited to implicit forms of memory? Evidence from intertrial repetition.

Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition·2024

Same author

Saccades to partially occluded objects: Perceptual completion mediates oculomotor control.

Journal of vision·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Published on: January 23, 2017

The spatial distribution of attention within and across objects.

Andrew Hollingworth¹, Ashleigh M Maxcey-Richard, Shaun P Vecera

¹Department of Psychology, The University of Iowa, 11 Seashore Hall E, Iowa City, IA 52242-1407, USA. andrew-hollingworth@uiowa.edu

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance

|July 7, 2011

Summary

Spatial attention forms a gradient across objects, constrained by object boundaries. This gradient influences perceptual sensitivity, suggesting early processing of object structure.

More Related Videos

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Published on: March 18, 2019

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Published on: November 16, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 31, 2026

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Published on: January 23, 2017

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Published on: March 18, 2019

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Published on: November 16, 2017

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Visual Perception

Background:

Attention selects spatial locations and objects.
Mechanisms of object-oriented attention are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

Examine how object structure constrains spatial attention distribution.
Investigate the "grouped array" representation of attention.

Main Methods:

Modified Egly et al. object cuing task.
Systematic manipulation of within-object distance and object boundaries.

Main Results:

Spatial attention exhibits a gradient across attended objects.
Object boundaries limit the spread of this attentional gradient.
Internal object boundaries affect attention similarly to external ones.
Attentional gradient modulates perceptual sensitivity.

Conclusions:

Object structure guides spatial attention distribution.
Attentional gradients are constrained by object boundaries, even internal ones.
This suggests an early locus for grouped array representation in perception.