A formal theory of feature binding in object perception
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 5, 2026

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning
Published on: November 2, 2012
F G Ashby1, W Prinzmetal, R Ivry
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106, USA.
Abstract:
Visual objects are perceived correctly only if their features are identified and then bound together. Illusory conjunctions result when feature identification is correct but an error occurs during feature binding. A new model is proposed that assumes feature binding errors occur because of uncertainty about the location of visual features. This model accounted for data from 2 new experiments better than a model derived from A. M. Treisman and H. Schmidt's (1982) feature integration theory. The traditional method for detecting the occurrence of true illusory conjunctions is shown to be fundamentally flawed. A reexamination of 2 previous studies provided new insights into the role of attention and location information in object perception and a reinterpretation of the deficits in patients who exhibit attentional disorders.
Related Concept Videos
Gestalt Principles of Perception
MO Theory and Covalent Bonding
Visual System
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
Preoperational Thought II: Object Space and Causality
Theory of Attribution II: Kelley's Covariation Theory
Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory
