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Temporal synchrony is an effective cue for grouping and segmentation in the absence of form cues

Rideaux, Reuben; Badcock, David R.; Johnston, Alan; Edwards, Mark

Authors

Reuben Rideaux

David R. Badcock

ALAN JOHNSTON Alan.Johnston@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Psychology

Mark Edwards



Abstract

The synchronous change of a feature across multiple discrete elements, i.e., temporal synchrony, has been shown to be a powerful cue for grouping and segmentation. This has been demonstrated with both static and dynamic stimuli for a range of tasks. However, in addition to temporal synchrony, stimuli in previous research have included other cues which can also facilitate grouping and segmentation, such as good continuation and coherent spatial configuration. To evaluate the effectiveness of temporal synchrony for grouping and segmentation in isolation, here we measure signal detection thresholds using a global-Gabor stimulus in the presence/absence of a synchronous event. We also examine the impact of the spatial proximity of the to-begrouped elements on the effectiveness of temporal synchrony, and the duration for which elements are bound together following a synchronous event in the absence of further segmentation cues. The results show that temporal synchrony (in isolation) is an effective cue for grouping local elements together to extract a global signal. Further, we find that the effectiveness of temporal synchrony as a cue for segmentation is modulated by the spatial proximity of signal elements. Finally, we demonstrate that following a synchronous event, elements are perceptually bound together for an average duration of 200 ms.

Citation

Rideaux, R., Badcock, D. R., Johnston, A., & Edwards, M. (2016). Temporal synchrony is an effective cue for grouping and segmentation in the absence of form cues. Journal of Vision, 16(11), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1167/16.11.23

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 16, 2016
Online Publication Date Sep 30, 2016
Publication Date Nov 1, 2016
Deposit Date Mar 1, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Vision
Electronic ISSN 1534-7362
Publisher Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 16
Issue 11
Article Number 23
Pages 1-12
DOI https://doi.org/10.1167/16.11.23
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/820006
Publisher URL http://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2564715

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