Journal article
Changes in area affect figure–ground assignment in pigeons
Vision research (Oxford), Vol.50(5), pp.497-508
2010
DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2009.12.016
PMCID: PMC2826607
PMID: 20060406
Abstract
A critical cue for figure–ground assignment in humans is area: smaller regions are more likely to be perceived as figures than are larger regions. To see if pigeons are similarly sensitive to this cue, we trained birds to report whether a target appeared on a colored figure or on a differently colored background. The initial training figure was either smaller than (Experiments 1 and 2) or the same area as (Experiment 2) the background. After training, we increased or decreased the size of the figure. When the original training shape was smaller than the background, pigeons’ performance improved with smaller figures (and worsened with larger figures); when the original training shape was the same area as the background, pigeons’ performance worsened when they were tested with smaller figures. A smaller figural region appeared to improve the figure–ground discrimination only when size was a relevant cue in the initial discrimination.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Changes in area affect figure–ground assignment in pigeons
- Creators
- Leyre Castro - E11 Seashore Hall, Department of Psychology, The University of Iowa, United StatesOlga F Lazareva - 316 Olin Hall, Department of Psychology, Drake University, Des Moines, IA 50310, United StatesShaun P Vecera - E11 Seashore Hall, Department of Psychology, The University of Iowa, United StatesEdward A Wasserman - E11 Seashore Hall, Department of Psychology, The University of Iowa, United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Vision research (Oxford), Vol.50(5), pp.497-508
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.visres.2009.12.016
- PMID
- 20060406
- PMCID
- PMC2826607
- ISSN
- 0042-6989
- eISSN
- 1878-5646
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/100000025, name: National Institute of Mental Health, award: MH47313; DOI: 10.13039/100000053, name: National Eye Institute, award: EY19781
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2010
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984066394802771
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