Object responses are highly malleable, rather than invariant, with changes in object appearance.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Human vision research
• Perceptual science

Background:

• Traditional theories propose stable, invariant object recognition despite changing visual conditions.
• Previous studies primarily used two-dimensional (2-D) images, potentially limiting ecological validity.
• Understanding object processing requires examining responses to stimuli mirroring real-world complexity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if object appearance changes, rather than identity, shift behavioral responses.
• To compare object sorting behavior across 2-D images, 3-D augmented reality (AR) projections, and real-world solids.
• To determine if sorting relies on conceptual or physical object characteristics in different display formats.

Main Methods:

• Utilized inverse multidimensional scaling (MDS) to quantify object arrangement similarity.
• Employed a sorting task with stimuli presented as scaled 2-D images, 3-D AR projections, and real-world objects.
• Analyzed sorting criteria, distinguishing between conceptual (e.g., typical location) and physical (e.g., size, weight) properties.

Main Results:

• 2-D images were sorted by conceptual properties (typical location), not physical ones.
• 3-D AR projections were sorted by physical properties (size, elongation, weight), not conceptual ones.
• Real-world objects were sorted using a combination of both conceptual and physical characteristics, unlike 2-D or 3-D stimuli.

Conclusions:

• Object responses are highly malleable, challenging the notion of strict invariance in human vision.
• The visual characteristics of a stimulus significantly influence behavioral responses and object categorization.
• Studying object perception with richer, real-world stimuli is crucial for understanding visual processing limits and capabilities.