The role of position in object selection in vision

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Visual Information Processing

Background:

• Contemporary visual-information-processing psychology distinguishes between position-special and position-not-special theories of selective attention.
• Position-not-special theories posit equivalent selective operations for color, form, and position.
• Position-special theories propose that selection by position is more fundamental than by color or form.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate evidence supporting different classes of selective-attention theories.
• To elaborate on a specific position-special model and assess its compatibility with existing assumptions.

Main Methods:

• Review and critical discussion of relevant and irrelevant evidence concerning selective-attention theories.
• Elaboration and detailed examination of a previously proposed position-special model (Van der Heijden, 1992).

Main Results:

• Empirical evidence strongly supports position-special views over position-not-special theories.
• Position-not-special theories necessitate additional, unsupported assumptions to align with findings.
• The elaborated position-special model integrates key assumptions from position-not-special theories, including pre-attentive object organization and object-based attention.

Conclusions:

• Relevant evidence is most compatible with position-special theories of visual selective attention.
• The position-special model offers a parsimonious explanation by equating selective attention with spatial position.
• This framework reconciles the mentalistic concept of attention with the materialistic concept of spatial location.