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

Visual System

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...

Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior

Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior

Automatic processing refers to the cognitive operations that occur without conscious intent or awareness, playing a fundamental role in shaping social cognition and behavior. These processes enable individuals to navigate complex social environments efficiently by relying on mental shortcuts and pre-existing knowledge structures known as schemas. One of the most influential mechanisms underlying automatic processing is priming, which subtly activates mental representations through exposure to...

Vision

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.

Types of Selection

Types of Selection

Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Learned statistical regularity modulates anticipatory micro-saccades toward suppressed distractor locations.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Visual Selection Is Spatially Constrained During Working Memory Consolidation.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2026

Same author

35+ years of the additional singleton task: Design features and guidelines.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2026

Same author

Dynamic competition between bottom-up saliency and top-down goals in early visual cortex.

Communications biology·2026

Same author

Incidental learning of time-event relationships across processing stages.

Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance·2026

Same author

Learning alters salience and proactive attentional priority.

Communications psychology·2026

Same journal

Toward Narrative Theory: Interventions for Reinforcer Pathology in Health Behavior.

Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation·2018

Same journal

Dissecting Impulsivity: Brain Mechanisms and Neuropsychiatric Implications.

Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation·2018

Same journal

Engaging and Exploring: Cortical Circuits for Adaptive Foraging Decisions.

Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation·2018

Same journal

Devaluation of Outcomes Due to Their Cost: Extending Discounting Models Beyond Delay.

Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation·2018

Same journal

A Fuzzy-Trace Theory of Risk and Time Preferences in Decision Making: Integrating Cognition and Motivation.

Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation·2018

Same journal

From Risk and Time Preferences to Cultural Models of Causality: On the Challenges and Possibilities of Field Experiments, with Examples from Rural Southwestern Madagascar.

Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation·2018

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 13, 2026

Integrating Visual Psychophysical Assays within a Y-Maze to Isolate the Role that Visual Features Play in Navigational Decisions

Integrating Visual Psychophysical Assays within a Y-Maze to Isolate the Role that Visual Features Play in Navigational Decisions

Published on: May 2, 2019

Automatic control of visual selection.

¹Department of Cognitive Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, Netherlands. J.Theeuwes@psy.vu.nl

Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation

|February 27, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Behavioral control is less about a "little man in the head" and more about automatic visual selection. Priming sharpens object salience beyond physical properties, influencing perception even when trying to focus elsewhere.

More Related Videos

Quantification of Visual Feature Selectivity of the Optokinetic Reflex in Mice

Quantification of Visual Feature Selectivity of the Optokinetic Reflex in Mice

Published on: June 23, 2023

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation

Published on: March 25, 2011

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 13, 2026

Integrating Visual Psychophysical Assays within a Y-Maze to Isolate the Role that Visual Features Play in Navigational Decisions

Integrating Visual Psychophysical Assays within a Y-Maze to Isolate the Role that Visual Features Play in Navigational Decisions

Published on: May 2, 2019

Quantification of Visual Feature Selectivity of the Optokinetic Reflex in Mice

Quantification of Visual Feature Selectivity of the Optokinetic Reflex in Mice

Published on: June 23, 2023

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation

Published on: March 25, 2011

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Perception

Background:

Traditional psychological theories often invoke a homunculus or central controller for behavior.
This model struggles to explain the automaticity observed in many volitional tasks.
Understanding the mechanisms of visual selection is crucial for explaining behavioral control.

Purpose of the Study:

To challenge the homunculus model in behavioral control.
To investigate the automatic nature of visual selection during task engagement.
To explore how object appearance and priming influence visual salience.

Main Methods:

Experimental manipulation of priming (feature, working memory, reward).
Assessment of visual selection during volitional tasks.
Measurement of object salience beyond physical properties.

Main Results:

Visual selection during tasks operates largely automatically.
Object salience is influenced by both physical properties and appearance.
Priming enhances cortical representation, increasing salience independently of physical attributes.
This priming effect occurs non-volitionally, overriding intentional preparation.

Conclusions:

Behavioral control can be explained without a central homunculus.
Automatic visual selection, modulated by priming, plays a key role in guiding behavior.
Perceptual salience is dynamically shaped by internal states and environmental cues.