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Updated: Jun 11, 2026
14:38
Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning
Published on: November 2, 2012
Shape-similarity gain: A selection profile for simple objects
Brendan Valentine1, Xiaoli Zhang2, Taosheng Liu2
1Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 316 Physics Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA. valen207@msu.edu.
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|June 9, 2026
Summary
This study reveals a shape-similarity gain effect for complex stimuli, similar to feature-similarity gain in attention. Performance peaks when target shapes are similar, decreasing as they diverge.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Attention research has identified selection profiles, like feature-similarity gain, for simple stimuli.
- It remains unclear if complex stimuli exhibit similar attentional selection patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the selection profile for simple shapes within a defined shape space.
- To determine if a shape-similarity gain effect operates for complex stimuli, analogous to feature-similarity gain.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed a change identification task on target shapes while ignoring distractors.
- The difference between two target shapes in a circular shape space was systematically varied across two experiments.
Main Results:
- Performance accuracy was highest when the two target shapes matched.
- Accuracy decreased monotonically as the difference between target shapes increased.
Conclusions:
- Results support a shape-similarity gain effect for complex stimuli, analogous to feature-similarity gain.
- Shape-based selection appears to operate within an intrinsic similarity space, modulated by top-down attention.
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