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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 15, 2025

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

Published on: November 2, 2012

Perception is not all-purpose.

Bence Nanay^1,2

¹University of Antwerp, D 413 Grote Kauwenberg 18, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium.

|November 1, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Your desired actions shape your perception. This study demonstrates that perceptual processing is counterfactually dependent on your intentions, influencing what you see.

Keywords:

Attention Cognitive penetration Intention Perception

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Philosophy of Mind
Perception

Background:

The relationship between perception and action is a key area in cognitive science.
Existing debates focus on cognitive penetrability, questioning if high-level cognitive states influence perception.
This work distinguishes itself by focusing on counterfactual dependence between intentions and perception.

Purpose of the Study:

To establish that perception is counterfactually dependent on the intended action.
To differentiate this claim from the cognitive penetrability debate.
To provide a structured argument for intention-based perception.

Main Methods:

A two-step argument is presented to demonstrate counterfactual dependence.
Step (a) argues that perceptual attention is counterfactually dependent on action intention.
Step (b) argues that perceptual processing is counterfactually dependent on perceptual attention.

Main Results:

Perceptual attention is shown to be counterfactually dependent on the intention to perform an action, all else being equal.
Perceptual processing is shown to be counterfactually dependent on perceptual attention, all else being equal.
The study concludes that perceptual processing is counterfactually dependent on the intention to perform an action, all else being equal.

Conclusions:

Perception is not a general-purpose faculty; it is influenced by our goals and intentions.
The findings support a model where intended actions shape perceptual processing through attention.
This research offers a novel perspective on the dynamic interplay between intention, attention, and perception.