Mary A Peterson

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Scholarly Contributions

Books

• Peterson, M. A., Tommasi, L., & Nadel, L. (2009). Cognitive Biology: Evolutionary and Developmental Perspectives on Mind, Brain and Behavior..
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  Tommasi, L., Peterson, M. A., & Nadel, L. (in press). Cognitive Biology: Evolutionary and Developmental Perspectives on Mind, Brain and Behavior. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.;Your Role: Co-editor;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Collaborative with a faculty member at the University of Chieti, Italy, as well as with a colleague in the Pscyhology Department.;

Chapters

• Peterson, M. A. (2019). Past Experience and Meaning Affect Object Detection: A Hierarchical Bayesian Approach.. In Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Volume 70: Knowledge and Vision(pp 224-257). Cambridge, MA.: Academic Press, Elsevier.
• Peterson, M. A. (2018). High-level Influences on Perception: Then and Now.. In Pioneer Visual Neuroscience: A Festschrift for Naomi Weisstein(pp 151-166). NY: Taylor Francis.
• Peterson, M. A. (2013). Low-level and High-level Contributions to Figure-Ground Organization: Evidence and Theoretical Implications. In The Oxford Handbook of Perceptual Organization. NY: Oxford University Press.
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  J. Wagemans (Ed.)
• Peterson, M. A., & Cacciamani, L. (2013). Toward a dynamical view of object perception. In Shape Perception in Human and Computer Vision: An Interdisciplinary Perspective(pp Chapter 30, pp. 445-459). Springer.
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  Dickinson, S. & Pizlo, Z. (Eds.)
• Peterson, M. A., & Kimchi, R. (2013). Perceptual Organization. In Handbook of Cognitive Psychology(pp 9-31). Oxford University Press.
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  D. Reisberg (Ed.)
• Peterson, M. A. (2012). Plasticity, competition, and task effects in object perception. In From Perception to Consciousness: Searching with Anne Treisman(pp Ch. 11, pp. 253-262 (Accompanying article by Treisman, pp. 237-252.)). NY: Oxford University Press.
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  In Wolfe, J. M. & Robertson, L. (Eds.)
• Peterson, M. A., & Salvagio, E. (2009). Attention and Competition in Figure-Ground Perception. In Attention(pp 1-13). Elsevier.
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  Peterson, M. A. & Salvagio, E. (2009). Attention and Competition in Figure-Ground perception. In N. Srinivasan (Ed.), Attention. In Elsevier Advances in Cognitive Neurosciences Series.;Your Role: Wrote first draft; rewrote after discussion with second author.;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;
• Tommasi, L., Peterson, M. A., & Nadel, L. (2009). Cognitive Biology: The New Cognitive Sciences?. In Cognitive Biology: Evolutionary and Developmental Perspectives on Mind, Brain and Behavior.. MIT Press.
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  Tommasi, L., Peterson, M. A., & Nadel, L. (in press). Cognitive Biology: The New Cognitive Sciences? In Cognitive Biology: Evolutionary and Developmental Perspectives on Mind, Brain and Behavior. L. Tommasi, L. Nadel, & M. A. Peterson (Eds). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (Introductory Chapter, with discussion/analysis of chapters in the collection.);Your Role: co-author;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: collaborative with faculty member at the University of Chieti, Italy, as well as with a colleague in the Psychology Department;

Journals/Publications

• Ghose, T., & Peterson, M. A. (2021). Task set and instructions influence the weight of figural priors: A psychophysical study with Extremal Edges and Familiar Configuration.. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.
• Onie, S., Peterson, M. A., Le Pelley, M., & Most, S. B. (2021). Learned value and predictiveness affect gaze but not figure assignment. Attention, perception & psychophysics, 83(1), 156-172.
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  Many factors affect figure-ground segregation, but the contributions of attention and reward history to this process is uncertain. We conducted two experiments to investigate whether reward learning influences figure assignment and whether this relationship was mediated by attention. Participants learned to associate certain shapes with a reward contingency: During a learning phase, they chose between two shapes on each trial, with subsets of shapes associated with high-probability win, low-probability win, high-probability loss, and low-probability loss. In a test phase, participants were given a figure-ground task, in which they indicated which of two regions that shared a contour they perceived as the figure (high-probability win and low-probability win shapes were pitted against each other, as were high-probability loss and low-probability loss shapes). The results revealed that participants had learned the reward contingencies and that, following learning, attention was reliably drawn to the optimal stimulus. Despite this, neither reward history nor the resulting attentional allocation influenced figure-ground organization.
• Peterson, M. A., Flowers, C., Palittsky, R., & Sullivan, D. (2021). Investigating the Flexibility of Attentional Orienting in Multiple Modalities: Are Spatial and Temporal Cues Used in the Context of Spatiotemporal Probabilities?. Visual Cognition.
• Barnes, C. A., Knierim, J. J., Ryan, L., & Peterson, M. A. (2020). Commemorating the Contributions of Lynn Nadel to the Understanding Hippocampal Function. Hippocampus, 30(8), 771 - 909.
• Barnes, C. A., Peterson, M. A., Ryan, L., & Knierim, J. J. (2020). Commemorating the Contributions of Lynn Nadel to the Understanding Hippocampal Function: Issue Editors. Hippocampus, 30(8), 771- 909.
• Barnes, C. A., Ryan, L., & Peterson, M. A. (2020). Nadel special issue introduction. Hippocampus, 30(8), 773-775.
• Flowers, C. S., Orsten-Hooge, K. D., Jannuzi, B. G., & Peterson, M. A. (2020). Normative data for an expanded set of stimuli for testing high-level influences on object perception: OMEFA-II. PloS one, 15(8), e0224471.
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  We present normative data for an expanded set of stimuli designed to investigate past experience effects on object detection. The stimuli are vertically-elongated "bipartite" displays comprising two equal-area regions meeting at an articulated central border. When the central border is assigned to one side, a shaped figure (i.e., an object) is detected on that side. Participants viewing brief masked exposures typically detect figures more often on the critical side of Intact displays where a common ("familiar") object is depicted than on a matched critical side of Part-Rearranged (PR) displays comprising the same parts arranged in novel configurations. This pattern of results showed that past experience in the form of familiar configuration rather than familiar parts is a prior for figure assignment. Spurred by research implicating a network involving the perirhinal cortex of the medial temporal lobe in these familiar configuration effects, we enlarged the stimulus set from 24 to 48 base stimuli to increase its usefulness for behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging experiments. We measured the percentage of participants who agreed on a single interpretation for each side of Intact, Upright PR, and Inverted PR displays (144 displays; 288 sides) under long exposure conditions. High inter-subject agreement is taken to operationally define a familiar configuration. This new stimulus set is well-suited to investigate questions concerning how parts and wholes are integrated and how high- and low-level brain areas interact in object detection. This set also allows tests of predictions regarding cross-border competition in figure assignment and assessments of individual differences. The displays, their image statistics, and normative data are available online (https://osf.io/j9kz2/).
• Perez, D. C., Cook, S. M., & Peterson, M. A. (2020). Author Correction: Prior Experience Alters the Appearance of Blurry Object Borders. Scientific reports, 10(1), 20643.
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  An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
• Isham, E. A., Ziskin, E. M., & Peterson, M. A. (2019). Limitations of Hoerl and McCormack's dual systems model of temporal consciousness. The Behavioral and brain sciences, 42, e256.
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  Hoerl & McCormack's dual systems framework provides a new avenue toward the scientific investigation of temporal cognition. However, some shortcomings of the model should be considered. These issues include their reliance on a somewhat vague consideration of "systems" rather than specific computational processes. Moreover, the model does not consider the subjective nature of temporal experience or the role of consciousness in temporal cognition.
• Flowers, C., & Peterson, M. A. (2018). Semantic Category Priming from the Groundside of Objects Shown in Non-Target Locations and at Unpredictable Times. Journal of Vision, 18(3), 1-13. doi:https://doi.org/10.1167/18.13.3
• Peterson, M. A., Kihlstrom, J. F., McConkey, K. M., Cranney, J., Glisky, M. L., & Rose, P. M. (2018). Orientation and Experience in the Perception of Form: A study of the Arizona Whale-Kangaroo.. American Journal of Psychology,, 131(2), 129-139.
• Cacciamani, L., Wager, E., Peterson, M. A., & Scalf, P. E. (2017). Age-Related Changes in Perirhinal Cortex Sensitivity to Configuration and Part Familiarity and Connectivity to Visual Cortex. Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 9, 291.
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  The perirhinal cortex (PRC) is a medial temporal lobe (MTL) structure known to be involved in assessing whether an object is familiar (i.e., meaningful) or novel. Recent evidence shows that the PRC is sensitive to the familiarity of both whole object configurations and their parts, and suggests the PRC may modulate part familiarity responses in V2. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated age-related decline in the PRC's sensitivity to part/configuration familiarity and assessed its functional connectivity to visual cortex in young and older adults. Participants categorized peripherally presented silhouettes as familiar ("real-world") or novel. Part/configuration familiarity was manipulated via three silhouette configurations:(parts/configurations familiar),(parts/configurations novel), and(parts familiar, configurations novel). "Real-world" judgments were less accurate than "novel" judgments, although accuracy did not differ between age groups. The fMRI data revealed differential neural activity, however: In young adults, a linear pattern of activation was observed in left hemisphere (LH) PRC, with>>. Older adults did not show this pattern, indicating age-related decline in the PRC's sensitivity to part/configuration familiarity. A functional connectivity analysis revealed a significant coupling between the PRC and V2 in the LH in young adults only. Older adults showed a linear pattern of activation in the temporopolar cortex (TPC), but no evidence of TPC-V2 connectivity. This is the first study to demonstrate age-related decline in the PRC's representations of part/configuration familiarity and its covariance with visual cortex.
• Lass, J. W., Bennett, P. J., Peterson, M. A., & Sekuler, A. B. (2017). Effects of aging on figure-ground perception: Convexity context effects and competition resolution. Journal of vision, 17(2), 15.
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  We examined age-related differences in figure-ground perception by exploring the effect of age on Convexity Context Effects (CCE; Peterson & Salvagio, 2008). Experiment 1, using Peterson and Salvagio's procedure and black and white stimuli consisting of 2 to 8 alternating concave and convex regions, established that older adults exhibited reduced CCEs compared to younger adults. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that this age difference was found at various stimulus durations and sizes. Experiment 4 compared CCEs obtained with achromatic stimuli, in which the alternating convex and concave regions were each all black or all white, and chromatic stimuli in which the concave regions were homogeneous in color but the convex regions varied in color. We found that the difference between CCEs measured with achromatic and colored stimuli was larger in older than in younger adults. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the senescent visual system is less able to resolve the competition among various perceptual interpretations of the figure-ground relations among stimulus regions.
• Peterson, M. A., Mojica, A. J., Salvagio, E., & Kimchi, R. (2017). Figural properties are prioritized for search under conditions of uncertainty: Setting boundary conditions on claims that figures automatically attract attention. Attention, perception & psychophysics, 79(1), 180-199.
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  Nelson and Palmer (2007) concluded that figures/figural properties automatically attract attention, after they found that participants were faster to detect/discriminate targets appearing where a portion of a familiar object was suggested in an otherwise ambiguous display. We investigated whether these effects are truly automatic and whether they generalize to another figural property-convexity. We found that Nelson and Palmer's results do generalize to convexity, but only when participants are uncertain regarding when and where the target will appear. Dependence on uncertainty regarding target location/timing was also observed for familiarity. Thus, although we could replicate and extend Nelson and Palmer's results, our experiments showed that figures do not automatically draw attention. In addition, our research went beyond Nelson and Palmer's, in that we were able to separate figural properties from perceived figures. Because figural properties are regularities that predict where objects lie in the visual field, our results join other evidence that regularities in the environment can attract attention. More generally, our results are consistent with Bayesian theories in which priors are given more weight under conditions of uncertainty.
• Anderson, J. J., Healey, M. K., Hasher, L., & Peterson, M. A. (2016). Age-Related deficits in Inhibition and Figure-Ground Assignment in Stationary Displays.. Journal of Vision, 16(7), 6: 1-12.
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  We assessed age differences in the ability to resolve competition for figural status in stationary displays using small, enclosed, symmetrical silhouettes that participantsclassified as depicting ‘‘novel’’ or ‘‘familiar’’ shapes. The silhouettes were biased such that the inside was perceived as the shaped figure, and the outside was perceived as a shapeless ground. The critical manipulation was whether a portion of a meaningful object was suggested on the outside of the border of some of the novel silhouettes but not others (M+Ground and M–Ground novel silhouettes, respectively). This manipulation was intended to induce greater inhibitory competition for figural status from the groundside in M+Ground silhouettes than M–Ground silhouettes. In previous studies, young adults classified M+Ground silhouettes as ‘‘novel’’ faster than M–Ground silhouettes (Trujillo, Allen, Schnyer, & Peterson, 2010), suggesting that young adults may recruit more inhibition to resolve figure-ground when there is more competition. We replicated this effect with young adults in the present study, but older adults showed the opposite pattern and were less accurate in classifying M+Ground than M–Ground silhouettes. These results extend the evidencefor inhibitory deficits in older adults to figure assignment in stationary displays. The (M+Ground – M-Ground) RT differences were evident in observers’ longest responses,consistent with the hypothesis that inhibitory deficits are evident when the need for inhibition is substantial.
• Sanguinetti, J. L., & Peterson, M. A. (2016). A behavioral task sets an upper bound on the time required to access object memories before object segregation. Journal of vision, 16(15), 26.
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  Traditional theories of vision assume that object segregation occurs before access to object memories. Yet, behavioral evidence shows that familiar configuration is a prior for segregation, and electrophysiological experiments demonstrate these memories are accessed rapidly. A behavioral index of the speed of access is lacking, however. Here we asked how quickly behavior is influenced by object memories that are accessed in the course of object segregation. We investigated whether access to object memories on the groundside of a border can slow behavior during a rapid categorization task. Participants viewed two silhouettes that depicted a real-world and a novel object. Their task was to saccade toward the real-world object as quickly as possible. Half of the nontarget novel objects were ambiguous in that a portion of a real-world object was suggested, but not consciously perceived, on the groundside of their borders. The rest of the nontargets were unambiguous. We tested whether saccadic reaction times were perturbed by the real-world objects suggested on the groundside of ambiguous novel silhouettes. In Experiments 1 and 2, saccadic reaction times were slowed when nontargets were ambiguous rather than unambiguous. Experiment 2 set an upper limit of 190 ms on the time required for object memories in grounds to influence behavior. Experiment 3 ruled out factors that could have produced longer latencies other than access to object memories. These results provide the first behavioral index of how quickly memories of objects suggested in grounds can influence behavior, placing the upper limit at 190 ms.
• Sanguinetti, J. L., Trujillo, L. T., Schnyer, D. M., Allen, J. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2016). Increased alpha band activity indexes inhibitory competition across a border during figure assignment. Vision research, 126, 120-130. doi:DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2015.06.008
• Cacciamani, L., Scalf, P. E., & Peterson, M. A. (2015). Neural evidence for competition-mediated suppression in the perception of a single object. Cortex, 72, 124--139.
• Sanguinetti, J. L., & Peterson, M. A. (2015). Ultra-rapid Behavior Based on Figure-ground Segregation.. Journal of Vision, 16(15), 26:1-16.
• Wager, E., Peterson, M. A., Folstein, J. R., & Scalf, P. E. (2015). Ground-based inhibition: Suppressive perceptual mechanisms interact with top-down attention to reduce distractor interference. Journal of vision, 15, 9--9.
• Cacciamani, L., Ayars, A. A., & Peterson, M. A. (2014). Spatially rearranged object parts can facilitate perception of intact whole objects. Frontiers in Psychology (Perception Science) special issue on “Zooming in on the big picture: Current issues in global versus local processing.”, 5, 482.
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  The familiarity of an object depends on the spatial arrangement of its parts; when the parts are spatially rearranged, they form a novel, unrecognizable configuration. Yet the same collection of parts comprises both the familiar and novel configuration. Is it possible that the collection of familiar parts activates a representation of the intact familiar configuration even when they are spatially rearranged? We presented novel configurations as primes before test displays that assayed effects on figure-ground perception from memories of intact familiar objects. In our test displays, two equal-area regions shared a central border; one region depicted a portion of a familiar object. Previous research with such displays has shown that participants are more likely to perceive the region depicting a familiar object as the figure and the abutting region as its ground when the familiar object is depicted in its upright orientation rather than upside down. The novel primes comprised either the same or a different collection of parts as the familiar object in the test display (part-rearranged and control primes, respectively). We found that participants were more likely to perceive the familiar region as figure in upright vs. inverted displays following part-rearranged primes but not control primes. Thus, priming with a novel configuration comprising the same familiar parts as the upcoming figure-ground display facilitated orientation-dependent effects of object memories on figure assignment. Similar results were obtained when the spatially rearranged collection of parts was suggested on the groundside of the prime's border, suggesting that familiar parts in novel configurations access the representation of their corresponding intact whole object before figure assignment. These data demonstrate that familiar parts access memories of familiar objects even when they are arranged in a novel configuration.
• Cacciamani, L., Mojica, A. J., Sanguinetti, J. L., & Peterson, M. A. (2014). Semantic access occurs outside of awareness for the ground side of a figure. Attention, perception & psychophysics, 76(8), 2531-47.
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  Traditional theories of vision assume that figures and grounds are assigned early in processing, with semantics being accessed later and only by figures, not by grounds. We tested this assumption by showing observers novel silhouettes with borders that suggested familiar objects on their ground side. The ground appeared shapeless near the figure's borders; the familiar objects suggested there were not consciously perceived. Participants' task was to categorize words shown immediately after the silhouettes as naming natural versus artificial objects. The words named objects from the same or from a different superordinate category as the familiar objects suggested in the silhouette ground. In Experiment 1, participants categorized words faster when they followed silhouettes suggesting upright familiar objects from the same rather than a different category on their ground sides, whereas no category differences were observed for inverted silhouettes. This is the first study to show unequivocally that, contrary to traditional assumptions, semantics are accessed for objects that might be perceived on the side of a border that will ultimately be perceived as a shapeless ground. Moreover, although the competition for figural status results in suppression of the shape of the losing contender, its semantics are not suppressed. In Experiment 2, we used longer silhouette-to-word stimulus onset asynchronies to test whether semantics would be suppressed later in time, as might occur if semantics were accessed later than shape memories. No evidence of semantic suppression was observed; indeed, semantic activation of the objects suggested on the ground side of a border appeared to be short-lived. Implications for feedforward versus dynamical interactive theories of object perception are discussed.
• Gomez, R. L., Peterson, M. A., Keri, B. E., & Sara, F. S. (2015). Prior Experience Can Override Gestalt Cues In Scene Segregation In 4.5 Month Old Infants. Developmental Science.
• Mojica, A. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2014). Display-wide Influences on Figure-Ground Perception: The Case of Symmetry.. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 76(4), 1069-1084. doi:10.3758/s13414-014-0646
• Sanguinetti, J. L., Allen, J. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2014). A Repetition Paradigm With Figure-ground Stimuli Reveals that Both Semantic and Shape Representations Can Be Accessed Outside of Awareness. Psychological Science, 25(1), 256-264.
• Span{\`o}, G., Peterson, M. A., Nadel, L., Rhoads, C., & Edgin, J. O. (2016). Seeing Can Be Remembering Interactions Between Memory and Perception in Typical and Atypical Development. Clinical Psychological Science, 4(2), 254-271.
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• Chan, D., Peterson, M. A., Barense, M. D., & Pratt, J. (2013). How action influences object perception. Frontiers in Psychology, 4(JUL).
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  PMID: 23885247;PMCID: PMC3717510;Abstract: Although object perception is typically associated with the parvocellular (P) pathway, a form of fast "gist" object perception may be due to activity in the magnocellular (M) pathway (Kveraga et al., 2007). Because the M-pathway is typically associated with action, we hypothesized that manipulations of action would influence speeded object perception. In three experiments, participants indicated whether the objects shown in low and high spatial frequency (HSF) images were larger or smaller than a prototypical shoebox. In Experiment 1, participants used a proximal (hands on monitor) or distal (hands on keyboard) hand posture in separate blocks. In Experiment 2, only the proximal hand posture was used, but the hands were either action oriented with palms in (palms toward the stimuli) or non-action oriented with palms out (palms away from the stimuli). In Experiment 3, we used the palms-in proximal hand posture but manipulated the type of visual stimuli such that they were either action oriented (easily grasped) or non-action oriented (not easily grasped). In all three experiments, the advantage in identifying the low spatial frequency (LSF) images was greater when action was primed (proximal hands, palms-in, graspable). Together, these experiments show that the M-pathway is involved in rapid "gist" object perception, and this type of object perception is influenced by action. © 2013 Chan, Peterson, Barense and Pratt.
• Nadel, L., & Peterson, M. A. (2013). The Hippocampus: Part of a Massively Interactive Representational System Spanning Perceptual and Memorial Systems. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(4), Special Section: Dialogues with Neuroscience: Memory. pp. 1242-1254.
• Peterson, M. A. (2013). Borders, contours, and mechanism. Cognitive Neuroscience, 4(1), 52-53.
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  PMID: 24073703;Abstract: Kogo and Wagemans claim that subjective contours are assigned from the earliest processing stages. I argue that in making this claim, Kogo and Wagemans are mistaking subjective experience with the perceptual mechanism. There is ample evidence that before figure assignment occurs object properties on opposite sides of unassigned borders compete for perception as figures. In order for these properties to compete, these must be a point in processing at which a border exists before it is assigned to one side. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
• West, G. L., Pratt, J., & Peterson, M. A. (2013). Attention is biased to near surfaces. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 20(6), 1213-1220.
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  Abstract: It is thought that attention is allocated to figural items over adjacent ground stimuli. It is unclear which attribute of figures drives any previously observed attentional effects (e.g., nearness or shapedness). Moreover, it is unclear whether previous attentional effects are automatic or strategy driven. In the present series of experiments, we tested whether attention is allocated to the nearer of two surfaces under condition where near/far was not confounded with shaped/shapelessness. Using a temporal order judgment paradigm, in the first experiment, we showed that attention is allocated to the nearer of two surfaces. Furthermore, by using the stimuli themselves as the temporal order probe in Experiment 2, we found that this effect is independent of previous attentional allocation across the visual field. A third experiment ruled out the possibility that lateral inhibition by the pretarget backdrop was responsible for attentional bias toward near surfaces. Overall, our results converge to show that near surfaces attract attention. © 2013 Psychonomic Society, Inc.
• Barense, M. D., K., J., H., L., & Peterson, M. A. (2012). Interactions of memory and perception in amnesia: The figure-ground perspective. Cerebral Cortex, 22(11), 2680-2691.
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  PMID: 22172579;Abstract: The medial temporal lobes (MTLs) have been thought to function exclusively in service of declarative memory. Recent research shows that damage to the perirhinal cortex (PRC) of the MTL impairs the discrimination of objects sharing many similar parts/features, leading to the hypothesis that the PRC contributes to the perception when the feature configurations, rather than the individual features, are required to solve the task. It remains uncertain, however, whether the previous research demands a slight extension of PRC function to include working memory or a more dramatic extension to include perception. We present 2 experiments assessing the implicit effects of familiar configuration on figure assignment, an early and fundamental perceptual outcome. Unlike controls, PRC-damaged individuals failed to perceive the regions portraying familiar configurations, as figure more often, than the regions comprising the same parts rearranged into novel configurations. They were also impaired in identifying the familiar objects. In a third experiment, PRC-damaged individuals performed poorly when asked to choose a familiar object from pairs of familiar and novel objects comprising the same parts. Our results demonstrate that the PRC is involved in both implicit and explicit perceptual discriminations of novel and familiar configurations. These results reveal that complex object representations in the PRC subserve both perception and memory. © 2012 The Author.
• Goldreich, D., & Peterson, M. A. (2012). A bayesian observer replicates convexity context effects in figure-ground perception. Seeing and Perceiving, 25(3-4), 365-395.
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  PMID: 22564398;Abstract: Peterson and Salvagio (2008) demonstrated convexity context effects in figure-ground perception. Subjects shown displays consisting of unfamiliar alternating convex and concave regions identified the convex regions as foreground objects progressively more frequently as the number of regions increased; this occurred only when the concave regions were homogeneously colored. The origins of these effects have been unclear. Here, we present a two-free-parameter Bayesian observer that replicates convexity context effects. The Bayesian observer incorporates two plausible expectations regarding three-dimensional scenes: (1) objects tend to be convex rather than concave, and (2) backgrounds tend (more than foreground objects) to be homogeneously colored. The Bayesian observer estimates the probability that a depicted scene is threedimensional, and that the convex regions are figures. It responds stochastically by sampling from its posterior distributions. Like human observers, the Bayesian observer shows convexity context effects only for images with homogeneously colored concave regions. With optimal parameter settings, it performs similarly to the average human subject on the four display types tested. We propose that object convexity and background color homogeneity are environmental regularities exploited by human visual perception; vision achieves figure-ground perception by interpreting ambiguous images in light of these and other expected regularities in natural scenes. © 2012 BRILL.
• Peterson, M. A., Cacciamani, L., Mojica, A. J., & Sanguinetti, J. L. (2012). The Ground Side of A Figure: Shapeless but not Meaningless. Journal of Gestalt Theory, 34(3/4), 297-314.
• Peterson, M. A., Peterson, M. A., Cacciamani, L., Cacciamani, L., Barense, M. D., Barense, M. D., Scalf, P. E., & Scalf, P. E. (2012). The perirhinal cortex modulates V2 activity in response to the agreement between part familiarity and configuration familiarity. Hippocampus, 22(10), 1965-77.
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  Research has demonstrated that the perirhinal cortex (PRC) represents complex object-level feature configurations, and participates in familiarity versus novelty discrimination. Barense et al. [(in press) Cerebral Cortex, 22:11, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhr347] postulated that, in addition, the PRC modulates part familiarity responses in lower-level visual areas. We used fMRI to measure activation in the PRC and V2 in response to silhouettes presented peripherally while participants maintained central fixation and performed an object recognition task. There were three types of silhouettes: Familiar Configurations portrayed real-world objects; Part-Rearranged Novel Configurations created by spatially rearranging the parts of the familiar configurations; and Control Novel Configurations in which both the configuration and the ensemble of parts comprising it were novel. For right visual field (RVF) presentation, BOLD responses revealed a significant linear trend in bilateral BA 35 of the PRC (highest activation for Familiar Configurations, lowest for Part-Rearranged Novel Configurations, with Control Novel Configurations in between). For left visual field (LVF) presentation, a significant linear trend was found in a different area (bilateral BA 38, temporal pole) in the opposite direction (Part-Rearranged Novel Configurations highest, Familiar Configurations lowest). These data confirm that the PRC is sensitive to the agreement in familiarity between the configuration level and the part level. As predicted, V2 activation mimicked that of the PRC: for RVF presentation, activity in V2 was significantly higher in the left hemisphere for Familiar Configurations than for Part-Rearranged Novel Configurations, and for LVF presentation, the opposite effect was found in right hemisphere V2. We attribute these patterns in V2 to feedback from the PRC because receptive fields in V2 encompass parts but not configurations. These results reveal two new aspects of PRC function: (1) it is sensitive to the congruency between the familiarity of object configurations and the parts comprising those configurations and (2) it likely modulates familiarity responses in visual area V2.
• Salvagio, E., Cacciamani, L., & Peterson, M. A. (2012). Competition-strength-dependent ground suppression in figure-ground perception. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 74(5), 964-978.
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  PMID: 22391891;Abstract: Figure-ground segregation is modeled as inhibitory competition between objects that might be perceived on opposite sides of borders. The winner is the figure; the loser is suppressed, and its location is perceived as shapeless ground. Evidence of ground suppression would support inhibitory competition models and would contribute to explaining why grounds are shapeless near borders shared with figures, yet such evidence is scarce. We manipulated whether competition from potential objects on the ground side of figures was high (i. e., portions of familiar objects were potentially present there) or low (novel objects were potentially present). We predicted that greater competition would produce more ground suppression. The results of two experiments in which suppression was assessed via judgments of the orientation of target bars confirmed this prediction; a third experiment showed that ground suppression is short-lived. Our findings support inhibitory competition models of figure assignment, in particular, and models of visual perception entailing feedback, in general. © 2012 Psychonomic Society, Inc.
• Wagemans, J., Elder, J. H., Kubovy, M., Palmer, S. E., Peterson, M. A., Singh, M., & von, R. (2012). A century of Gestalt psychology in visual perception: I. Perceptual grouping and figure-ground organization. Psychological Bulletin, 138(6), 1172-1217.
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  PMID: 22845751;PMCID: PMC3482144;Abstract: In 1912, Max Wertheimer published his paper on phi motion, widely recognized as the start of Gestalt psychology. Because of its continued relevance in modern psychology, this centennial anniversary is an excellent opportunity to take stock of what Gestalt psychology has offered and how it has changed since its inception. We first introduce the key findings and ideas in the Berlin school of Gestalt psychology, and then briefly sketch its development, rise, and fall. Next, we discuss its empirical and conceptual problems, and indicate how they are addressed in contemporary research on perceptual grouping and figure-ground organization. In particular, we review the principles of grouping, both classical (e.g., proximity, similarity, common fate, good continuation, closure, symmetry, parallelism) and new (e.g., synchrony, common region, element and uniform connectedness), and their role in contour integration and completion. We then review classic and new image-based principles of figure-ground organization, how it is influenced by past experience and attention, and how it relates to shape and depth perception. After an integrated review of the neural mechanisms involved in contour grouping, border ownership, and figure-ground perception, we conclude by evaluating what modern vision science has offered compared to traditional Gestalt psychology, whether we can speak of a Gestalt revival, and where the remaining limitations and challenges lie. A better integration of this research tradition with the rest of vision science requires further progress regarding the conceptual and theoretical foundations of the Gestalt approach, which is the focus of a second review article. © 2012 American Psychological Association.
• Peterson, M. A. (2011). Variable Exemplars May Operate by Facilitating Latent Perceptual Organization. Infancy, 16(1), 52-60.
• Peterson, M. A., & Salvagio, E. (2010). Figure-ground perception.. Scholarpedia.
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  Peterson, M. A. & Salvagio, E. (2009). Figure-ground perception. Scholarpedia. http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Figure-ground_perception;Your Role: first author; wrote first draft, re-wrote with input from second author;Electronic: Yes;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;
• Trujillo, L. T., J., J., Schnyer, D. M., & Peterson, M. A. (2010). Neurophysiological evidence for the influence of past experience on figure-ground perception. Journal of Vision, 10(2), 1-21.
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  PMID: 20462306;Abstract: A fundamental aspect of perceptual organization entails segregating visual input into shaped figures presented against shapeless backgrounds; an outcome termed "figure-ground perception" or "shape assignment." The present study examined how early in processing past experience exerts an influence on shape assignment. Event-related potential (ERP) measures of brain activity were recorded while observers viewed silhouettes of novel objects that differed in whether or not a familiar shape was suggested on the outside-the groundside-of their bounding edges (experimental versus control silhouettes, respectively). Observers perceived both types of silhouettes as novel shapes and were unaware of the familiar shape suggested on the groundside of experimental silhouettes. Nevertheless, we expected that the familiar shape would be implicitly identified early in processing and would compete for figural status with the novel shape on the inside. Early (106-156 ms) ERPs were larger for experimental silhouettes than for control silhouettes lacking familiarity cues. The early ERP difference occurred during a time interval within which edge-segmentation-dependent response differences have been observed in previous neurophysiological investigations of figure-ground perception. These results provide the first neurophysiological evidence for an influence of past experience during the earliest stages of shape assignment. © ARVO.
• Trujillo, L. T., Schyner, D., Allen, J. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2010). Neurophysiological Evidence for the Influence of Past Experience on Figure-Ground Perception.. Journal of Vision, 10(2), 1-21.
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  This paper reports 2 experiments, one of which was part of Logan Trujillo's dissertation, conducted when he was a graduate student jointly working in my lab and John Allen's lab. ;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Full Citation: Trujillo, L. T., Allen, J. J. B., & Peterson, M. A. (under revision). Neurophysiological evidence for differential processing of high- and low- competition figure-ground stimuli. ;Status: Under Revision (Revise and Resubmit);
• Gothard, K. M., Brooks, K. N., & Peterson, M. A. (2009). Multiple perceptual strategies used by macaque monkeys for face recognition. Animal Cognition, 12(1), 155-167.
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  PMID: 18787848;Abstract: Successful integration of individuals in macaque societies suggests that monkeys use fast and efficient perceptual mechanisms to discriminate between conspecifics. Humans and great apes use primarily holistic and configural, but also feature-based, processing for face recognition. The relative contribution of these processes to face recognition in monkeys is not known. We measured face recognition in three monkeys performing a visual paired comparison task. Monkey and humans faces were (1) axially rotated, (2) inverted, (3) high-pass filtered, and (4) low-pass filtered to isolate different face processing strategies. The amount of time spent looking at the eyes, mouth, and other facial features was compared across monkey and human faces for each type of stimulus manipulation. For all monkeys, face recognition, expressed as novelty preference, was intact for monkey faces that were axially rotated or spatially filtered and was supported in general by preferential looking at the eyes, but was impaired for inverted faces in two of the three monkeys. Axially rotated, upright human faces with a full range of spatial frequencies were also recognized, however, the distribution of time spent exploring each facial feature was significantly different compared to monkey faces. No novelty preference, and hence no inferred recognition, was observed for inverted or low-pass filtered human faces. High-pass filtered human faces were recognized, however, the looking pattern on facial features deviated from the pattern observed for monkey faces. Taken together these results indicate large differences in recognition success and in perceptual strategies used by monkeys to recognize humans versus conspecifics. Monkeys use both second-order configural and feature-based processing to recognize the faces of conspecifics, but they use primarily feature-based strategies to recognize human faces. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.
• Gothard, K., Brooks, K., & Peterson, M. A. (2009). Multiple perceptual mechanisms of face processing in macaque monkeys.. Animal Cognition.
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  This paper reports 4 experiments investigating monkey's ability to recognize face of other monkeys and of humans. They show that monkeys use three different strategies in different combinations for different species. ;Your Role: Major contributions to ideas, to design, to data analysis, and to writing of paper. Senior Author.;Full Citation: Gothard, K., Brooks, K., & Peterson, M. A. (2009). Multiple perceptual mechanisms of face processing in macaque monkeys. Animal Cognition, 12 (1), 155-167.;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member at UA: Yes;
• Kimchi, R., Peterson, ., & M.A., . (2009). Figure-ground Segmentation Can Occur Without Attention.. Psychological Science/Association for Psychological Science.
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  This paper shows that figure-ground perception can occur without attention, contrary to previous claims. The journal it is published in, Psychological Science, is the premier Psychology journal for ground-breaking research that has broad interest. ;Your Role: Originator of idea, collaborated on design, provided displays, collaborated on analysis and interpretation of data, and writing of paper.;Full Citation: Kimchi, R. & Peterson, M. A. (2008). Figure-ground Segmentation Can Occur Without Attention. Psychological Science, 19(7), 660-668.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Collaborative with a colleague at the University of Haifa;
• Peterson, M. A., & Salvagio, E. (2009). Attention and competition in figure-ground perception. Progress in Brain Research, 176, 1-13.
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  PMID: 19733746;Abstract: What are the roles of attention and competition in determining where objects lie in the visual field, a phenomenon known as figure-ground perception? In this chapter, we review evidence that attention and other high-level factors such as familiarity affect figure-ground perception, and we discuss models that implement these effects. Next, we consider the Biased Competition Model of Attention in which attention is used to resolve the competition for neural representation between two nearby stimuli; in this model the response to the stimulus that loses the competition is suppressed. In the remainder of the chapter we discuss recent behavioral evidence that figure-ground perception entails between-object competition in which the response to the shape of the losing competitor is suppressed. We also describe two experiments testing whether more attention is drawn to resolve greater figure-ground competition, as would be expected if the Biased Competition Model of Attention extends to figure-ground perception. In these experiments we find that responses to targets on the location of a losing strong competitor are slowed, consistent with the idea that the location of the losing competitor is suppressed, but responses to targets on the winning competitor are not speeded, which is inconsistent with the hypothesis that attention is used to resolve figure-ground competition. In closing, we discuss evidence that attention can operate by suppression as well as by facilitation. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• Peterson, M. A., & Skow, E. (2009). Suppression Of Shape Properties On The Ground Side Of An Edge: Evidence For A Competitive Model Of Figure Assignment.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance/American Psychological Association.
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  This paper reports 3 experiments that have major theoretical relevance. The journal is the top journal for theoretically important research in visual perception.;Your Role: My idea, involved every step of the way, designed, interpreted data, wrote manuscript ;Full Citation: Peterson, M. A., & Skow, E. (2008). Suppression Of Shape Properties On The Ground Side Of An Edge: Evidence For A Competitive Model Of Figure Assignment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34 (2), 251-267. ;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;
• Peterson, M. A., Salvagio, ., & E., . (2009). Inhibitory Competition in Figure-Ground Perception: Context and Convexity.. Journal of Vision.
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  This paper reports 4 experiments showing that context has a powerful influence on local competition in figure-ground perception. Our experiments reveal the necessary and sufficient conditions for context effects and take the first steps in identifying the mechanism. The Journal of Vision is now the top journal for research reports in visual perception.;Your Role: Ideas, experimental design, wrote drafts of paper.;Full Citation: Peterson, M. A., & Salvagio, E. (2008). Inhibitory Competition in Figure-Ground Perception: Context and Convexity. Journal of Vision, 8(16): 4, 1-13. http://www.journalofvision.org/8/16/4/;Electronic: Yes;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;
• Peterson, M., Peterson, M. A., Gothard, K. M., & Brooks, K. N. (2009). Multiple perceptual strategies used by macaque monkeys for face recognition. Animal cognition, 12(1).
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  Successful integration of individuals in macaque societies suggests that monkeys use fast and efficient perceptual mechanisms to discriminate between conspecifics. Humans and great apes use primarily holistic and configural, but also feature-based, processing for face recognition. The relative contribution of these processes to face recognition in monkeys is not known. We measured face recognition in three monkeys performing a visual paired comparison task. Monkey and humans faces were (1) axially rotated, (2) inverted, (3) high-pass filtered, and (4) low-pass filtered to isolate different face processing strategies. The amount of time spent looking at the eyes, mouth, and other facial features was compared across monkey and human faces for each type of stimulus manipulation. For all monkeys, face recognition, expressed as novelty preference, was intact for monkey faces that were axially rotated or spatially filtered and was supported in general by preferential looking at the eyes, but was impaired for inverted faces in two of the three monkeys. Axially rotated, upright human faces with a full range of spatial frequencies were also recognized, however, the distribution of time spent exploring each facial feature was significantly different compared to monkey faces. No novelty preference, and hence no inferred recognition, was observed for inverted or low-pass filtered human faces. High-pass filtered human faces were recognized, however, the looking pattern on facial features deviated from the pattern observed for monkey faces. Taken together these results indicate large differences in recognition success and in perceptual strategies used by monkeys to recognize humans versus conspecifics. Monkeys use both second-order configural and feature-based processing to recognize the faces of conspecifics, but they use primarily feature-based strategies to recognize human faces.
• Thomas, C., Moya, L., Avidan, G., Humphreys, K., Jung, K. J., Peterson, M. A., & Behrmann, M. (2009). Reduction in white matter connectivity, revealed by DTI, may account for age-related changes in face perception.. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
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  This paper advances our understanding of age-related changes in face recognition abilities by showing that face recognition peformance decrements are correlated with declines in whtie matter connections between the fusiform face area and frontal regions.;Your Role: Proposed idea in discussion with Marlene Behrmann, faculty colleague at CMU;Full Citation: Thomas, C., Moya, L., Avidan, G., Humphreys, K., Jung, K.J., Peterson, M. and Behrmann, M. (2008). Reduction in white matter connectivity, revealed by DTI, may account for age-related changes in face perception. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20 (2), 268-284.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Collaborative with faculty colleague at Carnegie Mellon University and her students;
• Gothard, K., Brooks, K., & Peterson, M. A. (2008). Multiple perceptual mechanisms of face processing in macaque monkeys.. Animal Cognition.
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  This paper reports 4 experiments investigating monkey's ability to recognize face of other monkeys and of humans. They show that monkeys use three different strategies in different combinations for different species. ;Your Role: Major contributions to ideas, to design, to data analysis, and to writing of paper. Senior Author.;Full Citation: Gothard, K., Brooks, K., & Peterson, M. A. (2009). Multiple perceptual mechanisms of face processing in macaque monkeys. Animal Cognition, 12 (1), 155-167.;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member at UA: Yes;
• Kimchi, R., & Peterson, M. A. (2008). Figure-ground segmentation can occocur without attention: Research article. Psychological Science, 19(7), 660-668.
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  PMID: 18727781;Abstract: The question of whether or not figure-ground segmentation can occur without attention is unresolved. Early theorists assumed it can, but the evidence is scant and open to alternative interpretations. Recent research indicating that attention can influence figure-ground segmentation raises the question anew. We examined this issue by asking participants to perform a demanding change-detection task on a small matrix presented on a task-irrelevant scene of alternating regions organized into figures and grounds by convexity. Independently of any change in the matrix, the figure-ground organization of the scene changed or remained the same. Changes in scene organization produced congruency effects on target-change judgments, even though, when probed with surprise questions, participants could report neither the figure-ground status of the region on which the matrix appeared nor any change in that status. When attending to the scene, participants reported figure-ground status and changes to it highly accurately. These results clearly demonstrate that figure-ground segmentation can occur without focal attention. Copyright © 2008 Association for Psychological Science.
• Kimchi, R., Peterson, ., & M.A., . (2008). Figure-ground Segmentation Can Occur Without Attention.. Psychological Science/Association for Psychological Science.
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  This paper shows that figure-ground perception can occur without attention, contrary to previous claims. The journal it is published in, Psychological Science, is the premier Psychology journal for ground-breaking research that has broad interest. ;Your Role: Originator of idea, collaborated on design, provided displays, collaborated on analysis and interpretation of data, and writing of paper.;Full Citation: Kimchi, R. & Peterson, M. A. (2008). Figure-ground Segmentation Can Occur Without Attention. Psychological Science, 19(7), 660-668.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Collaborative with a colleague at the University of Haifa;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). Object Perception. Blackwell Handbook of Sensation and Perception, 168-203.
• Peterson, M. A., & Salvagio, E. (2008). Inhibitory competition in figure-ground perception: Context and Convexity. Journal of Vision, 8(16).
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  PMID: 19146271;Abstract: Convexity has long been considered a potent cue as to which of two regions on opposite sides of an edge is the shaped figure. Experiment 1 shows that for a single edge, there is only a weak bias toward seeing the figure on the convex side. Experiments 1-3 show that the bias toward seeing the convex side as figure increases as the number of edges delimiting alternating convex and concave regions increases, provided that the concave regions are homogeneous in color. The results of Experiments 2 and 3 rule out a probability summation explanation for these context effects. Taken together the results of Experiments 1-3 show that the homogeneity versus heterogeneity of the convex regions is irrelevant. Experiment 4 shows that homogeneity of alternating regions is not sufficient for context effects; a cue that favors the perception of the interveffing regions as figures is necessary. Thus homogeneity alone does not alone operate as a background cue. We interpret our results within a model of figure-ground perception in which shape properties on opposite sides of an edge compete for representation and the competitive strength of weak competitors is further reduced when they are homogeneous. © ARVO.
• Peterson, M. A., & Skow, E. (2008). Inhibitory Competition Between Shape Properties in Figure-Ground Perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34(2), 251-267.
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  PMID: 18377169;Abstract: Theories of figure-ground perception entail inhibitory competition between either low-level units (edge or feature units) or high-level shape properties. Extant computational models instantiate the 1st type of theory. The authors investigated a prediction of the 2nd type of theory: that shape properties suggested on the ground side of an edge are suppressed when they lose the figure-ground competition. In Experiment 1, the authors present behavioral evidence of the predicted suppression: Object decisions were slower for line drawings that followed silhouettes suggesting portions of objects from the same rather than a different category on their ground sides. In Experiment 2, the authors reversed the silhouette's figure-ground relationships and obtained speeding rather than slowing in the same category condition, thereby demonstrating that the Experiment 1 results reflect suppression of those shape properties that lose the figure-ground competition. These experiments provide the first clear empirical evidence that figure-ground perception entails inhibitory competition between high-level shape properties and demonstrate the need for amendments to existing computational models. Furthermore, these results suggest that figure-ground perception may itself be an instance of biased competition in shape perception. © 2008 American Psychological Association.
• Peterson, M. A., & Skow, E. (2008). Suppression Of Shape Properties On The Ground Side Of An Edge: Evidence For A Competitive Model Of Figure Assignment.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance/American Psychological Association.
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  This paper reports 3 experiments that have major theoretical relevance. The journal is the top journal for theoretically important research in visual perception.;Your Role: My idea, involved every step of the way, designed, interpreted data, wrote manuscript ;Full Citation: Peterson, M. A., & Skow, E. (2008). Suppression Of Shape Properties On The Ground Side Of An Edge: Evidence For A Competitive Model Of Figure Assignment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34 (2), 251-267. ;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;
• Peterson, M. A., Salvagio, ., & E., . (2008). Inhibitory Competition in Figure-Ground Perception: Context and Convexity.. Journal of Vision.
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  This paper reports 4 experiments showing that context has a powerful influence on local competition in figure-ground perception. Our experiments reveal the necessary and sufficient conditions for context effects and take the first steps in identifying the mechanism. The Journal of Vision is now the top journal for research reports in visual perception.;Your Role: Ideas, experimental design, wrote drafts of paper.;Full Citation: Peterson, M. A., & Salvagio, E. (2008). Inhibitory Competition in Figure-Ground Perception: Context and Convexity. Journal of Vision, 8(16): 4, 1-13. http://www.journalofvision.org/8/16/4/;Electronic: Yes;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;
• Thomas, C., Moya, L., Avidan, G., Humphreys, K., Jung, K. J., Peterson, M. A., & Behrmann, M. (2008). Reduction in white matter connectivity, revealed by DTI, may account for age-related changes in face perception.. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
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  This paper advances our understanding of age-related changes in face recognition abilities by showing that face recognition peformance decrements are correlated with declines in whtie matter connections between the fusiform face area and frontal regions.;Your Role: Proposed idea in discussion with Marlene Behrmann, faculty colleague at CMU;Full Citation: Thomas, C., Moya, L., Avidan, G., Humphreys, K., Jung, K.J., Peterson, M. and Behrmann, M. (2008). Reduction in white matter connectivity, revealed by DTI, may account for age-related changes in face perception. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20 (2), 268-284.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Collaborative with faculty colleague at Carnegie Mellon University and her students;
• Thomas, C., Moya, L., Avidan, G., Humphreys, K., Kwan, J. J., Peterson, M. A., & Behrmann, M. (2008). Reduction in white matter connectivity, revealed by diffusion tensor imaging, may account for age-related changes in face perception. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(2), 268-284.
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  PMID: 18275334;Abstract: An age-related decline in face processing, even under conditions in which learning and memory are not implicated, has been well documented, but the mechanism underlying this perceptual alteration remains unknown. Here, we examine whether this behavioral change may be accounted for by a reduction in white matter connectivity with age. To this end, we acquired diffusion tensor imaging data from 28 individuals aged 18 to 86 years and quantified the number of fibers, voxels, and fractional anisotropy of the two major tracts that pass through the fusiform gyrus, the pre-eminent face processing region in the ventral temporal cortex. We also measured the ability of a subset of these individuals to make fine-grained discriminations between pairs of faces and between pairs of cars. There was a significant reduction in the structural integrity of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) in the right hemisphere as a function of age on all dependent measures and there were also some changes in the left hemisphere, albeit to a lesser extent. There was also a clear age-related decrement in accuracy of perceptual discrimination, especially for more challenging perceptual discriminations, and this held to a greater degree for faces than for cars. Of greatest relevance, there was a robust association between the reduction of IFOF integrity in the right hemisphere and the decline in face perception, suggesting that the alteration in structural connectivity between the right ventral temporal and frontal cortices may account for the age-related difficulties in face processing. © 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Aviezer, H., Landau, A. N., Robertson, L. C., Peterson, M. A., Soroker, N., Sacher, Y., Bonneh, Y., & Bentin, S. (2007). Implicit integration in a case of integrative visual agnosia. Neuropsychologia, 45(9), 2066-2077.
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  PMID: 17339044;PMCID: PMC2057135;Abstract: We present a case (SE) with integrative visual agnosia following ischemic stroke affecting the right dorsal and the left ventral pathways of the visual system. Despite his inability to identify global hierarchical letters [Navon, D. (1977). Forest before trees: The precedence of global features in visual perception. Cognitive Psychology, 9, 353-383], and his dense object agnosia, SE showed normal global-to-local interference when responding to local letters in Navon hierarchical stimuli and significant picture-word identity priming in a semantic decision task for words. Since priming was absent if these features were scrambled, it stands to reason that these effects were not due to priming by distinctive features. The contrast between priming effects induced by coherent and scrambled stimuli is consistent with implicit but not explicit integration of features into a unified whole. We went on to show that possible/impossible object decisions were facilitated by words in a word-picture priming task, suggesting that prompts could activate perceptually integrated images in a backward fashion. We conclude that the absence of SE's ability to identify visual objects except through tedious serial construction reflects a deficit in accessing an integrated visual representation through bottom-up visual processing alone. However, top-down generated images can help activate these visual representations through semantic links. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Behrmann, M., Peterson, M. A., Moscovitch, M., & Suzuki, S. (2006). Independent representation of parts and the relations between them: Evidence from integrative agnosia. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 32(5), 1169-1184.
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  PMID: 17002529;Abstract: Whether objects are represented as a collection of parts whose relations are coded independently remains a topic of ongoing discussion among theorists in the domain of shape perception. S. M., an individual with integrative agnosia, and neurologically intact ("normal") individuals learned initially to identify 4 target objects constructed of 2 simple volumetric parts. At test, the targets were mixed with distractors, some of which could be discriminated from the targets on the basis of a mismatching part, whereas the rest could be discriminated only on the basis of the altered spatial arrangements of parts. S. M. learned to identify the target objects, although at a rate slower than that of the normal participants. At test, he correctly rejected distractors on the basis of mismatching parts but was profoundly impaired at rejecting distractors made of the same local components but with mismatching spatial arrangements. These results suggest that encoding the spatial arrangements of parts of an object requires a mechanism that is different from that required for encoding the shape of individual parts, with the former selectively compromised in integrative agnosia. PsycINFO Database Record © 2006 APA, all rights reserved.
• Burge, J., Peterson, M. A., & Palmer, S. E. (2005). Ordinal configural cues combine with metric disparity in depth perception. Journal of Vision, 5(6), 534-542.
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  PMID: 16097866;Abstract: Prior research on the combination of depth cues generally assumes that different cues must be in the same units for meaningful combination to occur. We investigated whether the geometrically ordinal cues of familiarity and convexity influence depth perception when unambiguous metric information is provided by binocular disparity. We used bipartite, random dot stereograms with a central luminance edge shaped like a face in profile. Disparity specified that the edge and dots on one side were closer than the dots on the other side. Configural cues suggested that the familiar, face-shaped region was closer than the unfamiliar side. Configural cues caused an increase in perceived depth for a given disparity signal when they were consistent with disparity and a decrease in perceived depth when they were inconsistent. Thus, geometrically ordinal configural cues can quantitatively influence a metric depth cue. Implications for the combination of configural and depth cues are discussed. © 2005 ARVO.
• Peterson, M. A., & Enns, J. T. (2005). The edge complex: Implicit memory for figure assignment in shape perception. Perception and Psychophysics, 67(4), 727-740.
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  PMID: 16134465;Abstract: Viewing a stepped edge is likely to prompt the perceptual assignment of one side of the edge as figure. This study demonstrates that even a single brief glance at a novel edge gives rise to an implicit memory regarding which side was seen as figure; this edge complex enters into the figure assignment process the next time the edge is encountered, both speeding same-different judgments when the figural side is repeated and slowing these judgments when the new figural side is identical to the former ground side (Experiments 1A and 1B). These results were obtained even when the facing direction of the repeated edge was mirror reversed (Experiment 2). This study shows that implicit measures can reveal the effects of past experience on figure assignment, following a single prior exposure to a novel shape, and supports a competitive model of figure assignment in which past experience serves as one of many figurai cues. Copyright 2005 Psychonomic Society, Inc.
• Rauschenberger, R., Peterson, M. A., Mosca, F., & Bruno, N. (2004). Amodal completion in visual search: Preemption or context effects?. Psychological Science, 15(5), 351-355.
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  PMID: 15102147;Abstract: In a previous study, search for a notched-disk target abutting a square among complete-disk nontargets and squares was inefficient in 250-ms exposures, but relatively efficient in 100-ms exposures. This finding was interpreted as evidence that amodal completion proceeds through a mosaic and then a completion stage, with the latter preempting the former. We used the same target but changed its context: Nontargets were instead notched disks near squares. Task set was also different: Participants searched for a complete disk. Contrary to the prediction of the preemption model, search was efficient in the 100-ms condition and inefficient in the 250-ms condition. We propose that in both the present and the previous studies, the target was ambiguous, and task set and context affected how it was perceived. In both experiments, set effects were evident for 100-ms exposures; context effects were evident for 250-ms exposures.
• Peterson, M. A., & Kim, J. H. (2003). Does context modulate the strength of the configural cue of symmetry?. Journal of Vision, 3(12), 80a.
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  Abstract: Previously, we reported that a convex region is more likely to be seen as figure when surrounded by other convex regions (Kim & Peterson, 2001; 2002; Peterson & Kim, 2001). For instance, for briefly exposed black and white displays of alternating concave and convex regions d'increases from 0.36 to 1.04 to 2.07 as the number of fully convex regions increases from 1.0 to 1.5 to 3.5. We investigated whether similar "context effects" were obtained for mirror symmetry. In Experiment 1, observers viewed black and white displays composed of alternating symmetric and asymmetric regions and reported whether they perceived black or white regions as figure (lightness was not confounded with cue). Symmetric regions were seen as figure on approximately 59% of the trials, regardless of whether there were 1, 2, or 3 symmetric regions in the display. In Experiment 2, observers reported whether a probe shown on one of the regions on either side of fixation appeared to lie "on" or "off" the perceived figure. Sensitivity to symmetry as a configural cue (d' = 0.17 did not vary with the number of symmetric regions. In Experiment 3, using the probe task we found that a single symmetric region in an alternating black and white display was more likely to be seen as figure when the other region of the same lightness was convex (d' = 1.02) versus symmetric (d' = 0.17) or asymmetric (d' = 0.17). We consider which mechanisms underlie the within cue and cross cue context effects.
• Peterson, M. A., & Lampignano, D. W. (2003). Implicit Memory for Novel Figure-Ground Displays Includes a History of Cross-Border Competition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 29(4), 808-822.
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  PMID: 12967223;Abstract: When configural cues specify that a figure lies on opposite sides of a repeated border in prime and probe shapes, probe latencies are longer than when prime and probe borders are unrelated. Do such results reflect negative priming for the shape of the prime ground or cross-border competition from figure memory? The present study tested these alternatives by adding partial closure as a competing cue and reducing the similarity between the prime ground and the shape of the probe. Results supported the cross-border competition interpretation. Additional findings were that partial closure is a configural cue and that response effects can emerge from the potential shape on the ground side of a border. One prior experience was sufficient for these effects.
• Peterson, M. A., & Rauschenberger, R. (2003). Context effects on border assignment in the target stimulus in visual search. Journal of Vision, 3(9), 232a.
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  Abstract: Using a modified version of Rauschenberger & Yantis' (2001) search task, Rauschenberger, Peterson, Mosca, & Bruno (VSS '02) presented evidence for a dynamically evolving influence of the non-target stimuli on the representation of the target stimulus (spatiotemporal context effect). Here, we extend this finding, building a case for the generality of spatiotemporal context effects in visual search. In displays that were masked after either 100 or 250 ms, subjects searched for an enclosed symmetric novel outline target whose vertical edges sketched a 'standing woman' on the ground side. This target was presented among one of two types of non-targets (in fully mixed blocks): One type of non-target had the same vertical edges as the target; but they were each mirror reflected so that the 'standing woman' was sketched on the figure side of the edge rather than the ground side (experimental condition). The other type of non-target was a scrambled version of the 'standing woman' non-targets (control condition). The control condition serves as a baseline against which the experimental condition may be compared, as it is less subject to context effects. Because spatiotemporal context effects require time to evolve, we predicted that the non-targets would exert a greater influence on the perception of the target in the 250 ms SOA condition than in the 100 ms condition (as compared to the control condition). Results were consistent with this prediction. In the experimental condition, the search slopes were significantly larger in the 250 ms SOA condition than in the 100 ms SOA condition, whereas in the control condition, the slopes in these two SOA conditions were not statistically different. Moreover, the 100 ms condition showed the typical pattern of more efficient search among familiar non-targets than among unfamiliar non-targets. This pattern disappeared in the 250 ms condition, however. We attribute this disappearance to context effects.
• Peterson, M. A., & Skow-Grant, E. (2003). Memory and Learning in Figure-Ground Perception. Psychology of Learning and Motivation - Advances in Research and Theory, 42, 1-35.
• Skow-Grant, E., & Peterson, M. A. (2003). Where has object-based IOR gone?. Journal of Vision, 3(9), 335a.
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  Abstract: We investigated object- and location-based components of the inhibition of the return (IOR) of attention. In Exp 1, we drew attention first to one of four boxes arranged around a center box and then back to the center. We introduced blank gaps (35, 70, 105 or 140 ms) before presenting a target in either the cued box or an uncued box. (In all experiments, targets appeared equally often in all peripheral boxes.) Following Gibson & Yantis (1994), we expected that the boxes would appear to be new objects after gaps longer than 100 ms, and therefore that the object-based component of IOR would disappear following long gaps. Latencies were longer to detect targets appearing at the cued location than at uncued locations (p< 0.05), but this difference was unaffected by gap length. Thus, as indexed by the gap size manipulation with static displays, IOR was not object-based. In Exp 2, we added color to each of the four peripheral boxes, so they could be distinguished as different objects. We drew attention to one of the peripheral boxes and then back to the center. Next, we rotated the peripheral boxes by 90° and then introduced a gap (0, 35, or 140 ms) before presenting the target. IOR was observed only at the cued location, not at the location to which the cued object moved (p< 0.05). Thus, Exp 2 again revealed location-based, but not object-based IOR. Is attention more likely to track the cued object if it is not drawn away before the cued object moves? In Exp 3 we rotated the peripheral boxes by 90° after cueing a peripheral box, but before drawing attention back to the center. After the motion stopped, we drew attention back to the center before presenting the target. No blank gaps occurred. Again, we observed IOR at the original cued location but not at the location to which the object moved (p
• Grant, E. S., Lampignano, D. W., Kim, J. H., & Peterson, M. A. (2002). Tests of a competitive interactive model of figure assignment. Journal of Vision, 2(7), 472a.
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  Abstract: Figure-ground perception arises from competition for ownership of a shared edge. Peterson et al. (2000) proposed that configural processes operating on opposite sides of an edge inhibit each other; inhibition of the more weakly cued side accounts for its status as a shapeless ground. Testing for inhibition, Peterson and Kim (2001) asked observers to decide if line drawing targets portrayed real or novel objects. Targets were preceded by unmasked novel silhouette primes. For half the real targets, the contours of the prime sketched a portion of the same basic level object on the ground side (primed targets). For the other half, the contours of the prime did not sketch a real object (unprimed targets). All the novel targets were unprimed. Object decision latencies were longer for primed than for unprimed real targets, consistent with the proposal that object memories matching the ground side of prime silhouettes were inhibited. However, it remained to be shown that when the same portions of real objects were seen as figures rather than as grounds in the primes, their memories were not inhibited, a necessary prediction of the model. We altered Peterson and Kim's (2001) prime silhouettes so that (1) regions seen as grounds were seen as figures and (2) half the primes portrayed portions of real objects, the other half portrayed portions of novel objects; prime type did not predict the target type. For both real and novel targets, primed trials were those on which prime type matched target type; unprimed trials were mismatches. For real targets, the match occurred at the basic level; for novel targets, the match occurred at the superordinate level. In Exps. 1 & 2, using different SOAs, object decisions for real targets were speeded on primed trials, whereas those for novel targets were unaffected by prime type, p < .05. In Exp. 3, we used masked primes and tested for priming when match and mismatch were defined semantically for real objects.
• Kim, J. H., & Peterson, M. A. (2002). Factors affecting contextual modulations of the Gestalt configural cues. Journal of Vision, 2(7), 481a.
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  Abstract: The Gestalt configural cues of convexity and symmetry affect the likelihood that a region will be seen as a figure as opposed to a background. In previous research, we found that the effectiveness of the configural cue of convexity increased as the number of convex regions in a display increased from 1.5 - 2.5 - 3.5 regions (Kim and Peterson, 2001). We observed these "context effects" even when perceived figure assignment was measured indirectly, when symmetry competed with convexity, and when observers were required to base their figure response on the regions closest to fixation regardless of the number of regions in the display (Peterson & Kim, 2001). We suggested that context effects might reflect long-range connections between units assessing region-wide convexity because the effectiveness of the convexity cue did not increase with the number of local convexities within a region. We now extend these investigations by examining whether or not the configural cue of symmetry is affected similarly by context. We also examine the extent to which context effects require that the cued regions be similar in color. In addition, we use a priming paradigm to investigate whether or not the context effects operate over a temporal gap.
• Lampignano, D. W., & Peterson, M. A. (2002). Memory for novel shapes of grounds? An alternative hypothesis. Journal of Vision, 2(7), 408a.
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  Abstract: Adjacent regions compete for ownership of a common edge. The figure owns the edge; the ground does not. Treisman & DeSchepper (T & D; 1996) used a discrimination task to test for memory of novel ground shapes in paired prime-probe trials. Primes were black and white regions sharing an edge, shown above a black shape; the black region was figure, the white region was ground. Probes were separated black and white shapes above a white shape. Observers reported whether the shape below matched the same-color shape above. For probes the top black shape was a distractor. White top shapes were repeated across experimental prime and probe trials, but not control trials. T & D found negative priming (NP) on experimental trials and concluded that before figure assignment, equivalent memories are established for shapes lying on both sides of an edge, with an "ignore" tag attached to the shape of the ground. We propose an alternative: NP reflects a delay in probe figure assignment caused by competition from memory for the prime figure. We eliminated the white region on prime trials to reduce similarity between white prime and probe shapes and positioned the distractor farther from the white probe shape on half the trials to reduce any partial closure it provided. NP was reduced in the far condition relative to the near condition, but some response competition was observed in the near condition. Did the response competition arise from the distractor or from the potential to see the prime figure on the ground side of the probe, amplified by partial closure? We replaced the near black distractor with a vertical bar and eliminated the far distractor. The bar provided partial closure, as had the distractor, but not response competition. Both NP and response competition were observed. Here, response competition arose from the potentially present prime figure. We suggest that an understanding of the competitive nature of figure assignment is necessary to interpret the obtained NP.
• Peterson, M. A., & Enns, J. T. (2002). Memory for an edge includes figure and ground assignment. Journal of Vision, 2(7), 497a.
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  Abstract: Do memories of figures code the exclusive assignment of the bounding edge to one side or do they preserve evidence that both sides of the edge were assessed for figural status? A priming task adapted from Driver and Baylis (1996) examined shape memory following a single exposure to a novel figure. The prime was a small yellow figure displayed on the left or right side of a larger red ground with a crenellated edge separating figure and ground regions. Observers viewed the prime, without making any response, and then made a speeded same-different discrimination regarding two probe shapes that were shown one above the other, either facing in the same direction as the figure prime (figure probes) or the opposite direction (ground probes). On experimental trials, at least one of the probe shapes had the same crenellated edge as the prime (different response) or both did (same response). On control trials neither of the probe shapes had the prime's crenellated edge. In Exp. 1, the prime was exposed for 180 ms, followed by a 500 ms blank screen, and then the probes. In Exp. 2, the prime was exposed for 129 ms, followed by a 129-ms mask and then the probes. In both experiments, observers were faster to respond to experimental figure probes and slower to respond to experimental ground probes than to comparable control probes, ps < .001. This result goes beyond previous studies in showing that the memory for an edge includes more than the assignment of the edge to one side (positive figure priming); it also includes memory for the abandoned assignment of the same edge to the opposite side (negative ground priming). We refer to this as memory for the "edge complex," because in addition to the shape of the crenellated edge, it includes information about which side of the edge was seen as figure vs. ground. These findings reveal the dynamics of figure-ground assignment in the absence of shape familiarity, since they were evident following a single exposure to a novel shape.
• Rauschenberger, R., Peterson, M. A., Mosca, F., & Bruno, N. (2002). A modified search task investigates an alternative to the two-stage model of amodal completion. Journal of Vision, 2(7), 680a.
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  Abstract: When using disk and square patterns as distractors, search for a notched disk abutting a square is less efficient than search for the same notched disk standing separate from the square (Rensink and Enns, 1998). It is generally accepted that search is inefficient in the first case because amodal completion renders the notched disk target similar to the complete disk distractors. In a recent study, one of us showed that search becomes efficient again if the displays are masked after a short duration (Rauschenberger and Yantis, 2001). This result is consistent with a pre-completion representation revealed by the early interruption of processing. However, other studies of amodal completion cast doubt on the generality of a two-stage model having an initial pre-completion, or "mosaic" representation (Bruno, Bertamini and Domini, 1997). As an alternative to the two-stage model we investigated the possibility that pictorial occlusions are inherently ambiguous and that the perceived organization of the target in Rauschenberger and Yantis was biased toward the completion interpretation by its context of complete disk distractors. On this view, masking the search display after a brief exposure eliminates the context effects. To test this context hypothesis, we attempted to bias the ambiguous target toward a "mosaic" interpretation by presenting it amongst notched disk and square distractors. We assessed the efficiency of search in both brief (100 ms) and long (250 ms) masked exposures. In contrast to the two stage model, the context hypothesis predicts that, under these conditions, search for the notched disk target should be relatively inefficient in the long exposure condition. Our results supported the context hypothesis.
• Schulz, M. F., Rauschenberger, R., & Peterson, M. A. (2002). Amodal completion in passively viewed displays: A priming study. Journal of Vision, 2(7), 681a.
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  Abstract: Schulz et al. (OPAM, 2001) used priming to investigate the time course of grouping by color. Participants were shown ambiguous masked prime displays for a variable prime duration. A central column of elements in each prime appeared behind a transparent surface. The central column could group with elements on the right or the left depending on whether grouping was based on a pre- or a post-constancy representation of color. Participants reported the grouping of unambiguous target displays that matched either the pre- or the post-constancy representation of the prime. At short prime durations, responses were faster when the target matched a pre-constancy interpretation of the prime. At long prime durations, responses were faster when the target matched a post-constancy interpretation. Here we extend this line of inquiry by using priming to investigate the time course of amodal completion. Primes consisted of ambiguous displays in which a central column of half disks abutted a thick, opaque vertical stripe, giving rise - with unlimited viewing - to the percept of complete disks partially occluded by a stripe. The central column of half disks was flanked on one side by two columns of complete disks, and on the other side by two columns of half disks. This prime display was masked after various durations either long enough to permit amodal completion of the central half disks or not. Following the prime, we presented unambiguous target displays that were similar to the prime displays, with the exception that the central column contained either complete disks or half disks presented without 'occluder'. Participants reported the grouping of the unambiguous target displays. A reaction time advantage for targets that matched a post-completion interpretation increased with prime duration.
• Gibson, B. S., & Peterson, M. A. (2001). 3 Inattentional blindness and attentional capture: Evidence for attention-based theories of visual salience. Advances in Psychology, 133(C), 51-76.
• Kim, J. H., & Peterson, M. A. (2001). Contextual modulation of the strength of gestalt configural cues. Journal of Vision, 1(3), 390a.
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  Abstract: Figural status is determined in part by convexity and symmetry. Convex or symmetric regions are more likely to be seen as figures than adjacent equal-area concave or asymmetric regions, respectively. We investigated whether the strength of these cues increased with horizontal or vertical repetition. Horizontal repetition was manipulated by varying the number of adjacent black and white regions in a display. Displays were comprised of 3, 5, or 7 black and white regions. In a given display, either the black or the white regions were cued to be figure by convexity or symmetry. (Across displays half of the cued regions were black and half were white.) Within each of the 3 horizontal repetition conditions, vertical repetition was manipulated across 5 levels by varying the number of parts (delimited by successive concave cusps along the contour) from 1 - 16. 180 stimuli were displayed in each horizontal repetition condition. 60 displays tested the strength of symmetry alone, 60 tested convexity alone, and 60 tested the relative strength of symmetry and convexity. Displays were shown on a gray background for 100-ms. Observers reported whether the black or the white region appeared to stand out as figure against a background of the other color. (Responses based on color alone would not differ from chance.) Cues effectively determined figural status in all repetition conditions. In the competition condition, convexity dominated symmetry, ps < .002. Most importantly, the strength of the configural cues increased with the number of horizontal repetitions. Both symmetry and convexity determined figural status more effectively in the largest repetition condition than in the other repetition conditions, ps< .001. Repetitions in the vertical direction had no effect, however. These results indicate that global context modulates the strength of the configural cues. Additional experiments investigated the effects of vertical region repetition and horizontal part repetition.
• Peterson, M. A., & Kim, J. H. (2001). On what is bound in figures and grounds. Visual Cognition, 8(3-5), 329-348.
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  Abstract: All else being equal, regions providing a quick, good match to object memories are likely to be seen as shaped figures rather than as shapeless grounds. Good matches to object memories occur only if the parts are properly bound spatially. If object memories are accessed in the course of perceptual organization even for regions ultimately seen as shapeless grounds, then binding of parts cannot require attention to figures. Novel silhouette primes were shown immediately before real or novel line drawings. The silhouette contours of half of the primes preceding real line drawings sketched a known shape on the outside, which nevertheless appeared to be a shapeless ground. At short prime-line drawing SOAs, observers took longer to categorize real line drawings following these experimental primes than control primes, suggesting that parts are properly bound spatially for regions perceived to be shapeless grounds, and further that object memories matching grounds are inhibited.
• Peterson, M. A., Gelder, B. D., Rapcsak, S. Z., Gerhardstein, P. C., & Bachoud-Lévi, A. (2000). Object memory effects on figure assignment: conscious object recognition is not necessary or sufficient. Vision Research, 40(10-12), 1549-1567.
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  PMID: 10788658;Abstract: In three experiments we investigated whether conscious object recognition is necessary or sufficient for effects of object memories on figure assignment. In experiment 1, we examined a brain-damaged participant, AD, whose conscious object recognition is severely impaired. AD's responses about figure assignment do reveal effects from memories of object structure, indicating that conscious object recognition is not necessary for these effects, and identifying the figure-ground test employed here as a new implicit test of access to memories of object structure. In experiments 2 and 3, we tested a second brain-damaged participant, WG, for whom conscious object recognition was relatively spared. Nevertheless, effects from memories of object structure on figure assignment were not evident in WG's responses about figure assignment in experiment 2, indicating that conscious object recognition is not sufficient for effects of object memories on figure assignment. WG's performance sheds light on AD's performance, and has implications for the theoretical understanding of object memory effects on figure assignment. Copyright (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.
• Suzuki, S., & Peterson, M. A. (2000). Multiplicative effects of intention on the perception of bistable apparent motion. Psychological Science, 11(3), 202-209.
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  PMID: 11273404;Abstract: When viewing ambiguous displays, observers can, via intentional efforts, affect which perceptual interpretation they perceive. Specifically, observers can increase the probability of seeing the desired percept. Little is known, however, about how intentional efforts interact with sensory inputs in exerting their effects on perception. In two experiments, the current study explored the possibility that intentional efforts might operate by multiplicatively enhancing the stimulus-based activation of the desired perceptual representation. Such a possibility is suggested by recent neurophysiological research on attention. In support of this idea, when we presented bistable apparent motion displays under stimulus conditions differentially favoring one motion percept over the other, observers' intentional efforts to see a particular motion were generally more effective under conditions in which stimulus factors favored the intended motion percept.
• Peterson, M. A. (1999). Knowledge and intention can penetrate early vision. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22(3), 389-390.
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  Abstract: Although some types of cognition may not affect early vision, there is ample evidence that other types of cognition do. Evidence indicating that early vision is penetrable by direct manipulation of viewers' perceptual intentions and by knowledge of the structure of familiar objects is reviewed, and related to both the Pylyshyn target article and Fodor (1983).
• Peterson, M. A. (1999). What's in a stage name? Comment on Vecera and O'Reilly (1998). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 25(1), 276-286.
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  Abstract: M. A. Peterson and colleagues proposed that early object recognition processes proceed in parallel with processes assessing "low-level" configurai cues and that the outputs of all these processes combine to determine figure-ground segregation. S. P. Vecera and R. C. O'Reilly (1998) presented an interactive model designed to account for Peterson and colleagues' results while retaining the traditional assumption that figure-ground segregation precedes access to object memories. This commentary explicates the figure-ground-first assumption, reviews the evidence for the parallel proposal, and critiques the Vecera and O'Reilly model. It is shown that, because the Vecera and O'Reilly model relies on an assumption that object recognition affects figure-ground only when low-level cues are ambiguous, it retains the figure-ground-first assumption in name only. Further, it is shown that the model cannot account for all the evidence. Implications of possible amendments to the model are considered.
• Gerhardstein, P., Peterson, M. A., & Rapcsak, S. Z. (1998). Age-related hemispheric asymmetry in object discrimination. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 20(2), 174-185.
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  PMID: 9777471;Abstract: Young and elderly observers judged whether two sequentially presented images in either the left or right visual field (LVF or RVF) were the same or different. The two objects depicted were always from the same entry-level category, but could differ only in viewpoint (a 'same' trial-observers were instructed to ignore viewpoint changes) and/or in exemplar (a 'different' trial). Young observers showed no difference in sensitivity across visual fields. Elderly observers were less sensitive overall than young observers, and were less sensitive to stimuli presented in the LVF-RH than in the RVF- LH. The results of this experiment support the hypothesis that one type of visual cognitive functioning declines with age faster in the right hemisphere than in the left hemisphere.
• Peterson, M. A., Gerhardstein, P. C., Mennemeier, M., & Rapcsak, S. Z. (1998). Object-centered attentional biases and object recognition contributions to scene segmentation in left- and right-hemisphere-damaged patients. Psychobiology, 26(4), 357-370.
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  Abstract: Participants viewed elongated rectangular displays in which two regions shared a central contour. In experimental stimuli, the central contour portrayed a known object on one, high-denotative, side. In control stimuli, no known objects were portrayed on either side of the central contour, but one side of each control stimulus was a scrambled version of one of the high- denotative regions, matching it on all factors known to influence scene segmentation other than object recognition. For each display, participants decided whether the left or the right region was more likely to be an object. Paradoxically, both right-hemisphere- (RH) and left-hemisphere- (LH) damaged individuals were more likely to see objects lying on the contralesional rather than the ipsilesional side of the central contour. This tendency is attributed to an object-centered attentional bias toward the central contour when objects lie on its contralesional side and away from the central contour when objects lie on its ipsilesional side. Object-centered attentional biases were stronger following RH than LH damage. Elderly control participants showed a slight bias in the same direction as RH-damaged individuals. More high-denotative regions than scrambled regions were seen as objects, even when object-centered attention was biased away from the central contour carrying the object recognition information. The latter result suggests that the object recognition processes contributing to scene segmentation are preattentive.
• Peterson, M., Bell, I. R., Kline, J. P., Schwartz, G. E., & Peterson, M. A. (1998). Quantitative EEG patterns during nose versus mouth inhalation of filtered room air in young adults with and without self-reported chemical odor intolerances. International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, 28(1).
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  Individuals who report illness (e.g. nausea, headache) from common chemical odors tend to report CNS symptoms suggestive of olfactory-limbic system involvement. This study compared the resting quantitative electroencephalographic (qEEG) patterns of young adult college students reporting subjectively elevated chemical odor intolerance ratings (HICI) with those of controls reporting little or no odor intolerance (LOCI). Each group was subdivided into those with higher (HIDEP) vs. lower (LODEP) ratings of concomitant depression. Nineteen channels of EEG were recorded during a single session over four separate rest periods, respectively, following baseline, cognitive, chemical exposure and olfactory identification tests. Each recording involved two 30-s, eyes-closed, filtered room air breathing conditions: (1) nose inhalation followed by mouth exhalation and (2) mouth inhalation followed by mouth exhalation. HICI showed significantly less beta 1 (beta 1) over the temporal-central region during nose than during mouth inhalation. Over some temporal and central leads, task, DEP and CI interacted to influence beta 1 as well. For theta (theta), CI differences emerged during nose inhalation after the cognitive task at Cz, after chemical exposures at C3, Cz and C4 and after the olfactory ID task at C4. CI differences emerged during mouth breathing after the olfactory ID task at Cz, C4 and T4. The T5-T6 coronal array showed significant CI differences after chemical exposures during nose breathing and during mouth breathing after the cognitive and olfactory ID tasks. The theta findings in the HICI may be related to reports of disturbed attention in CI.
• Suzuki, S., & Peterson, M. A. (1997). Intentional (attentional) control of Bi-stable apparent motion depends upon retinal location. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 38(4), S372.
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  Abstract: Purpose. Reseach has shown that numerous factors (e.g. distance, size, contrast, color, orientation, surface interpretation) can influence perceived solution to the correspondence problem in a bi-stabie (competitive) apparent motion display. In many cases, however, "intentional (attentional) effort" can override these image factors. The present study is an attempt to understand how conscious effort controls perceived apparent motion. Methods. A horizontal pair of circles (5.76° apart), one large (1.53°) and the other small (0.76°), was presented symmetrically across the vertical meridian either at the fixation level or 6° above or below the fixation cross. The locations of the two circles were switched from frame to frame. The perceived apparent motion was either 1) the two circles expanding and contracting in place, or 2) the two circles moving across to exchange positions. The observer saw eight frames (no ISI) per trial and indicated which motion was seen. The vertical eccentricity (0° or 6°) and the frame duration (150 - 600 msec) were varied randomly from trial to trial. The observer ran in three intentional (attentional) conditions: 1) passive viewing, 2) attempting to see the expansive motion, and 3) attempting to see the translational motion. The three conditions were blocked. The observer always fixated the fixation cross. Results. In general, more translational motion was seen with longer frame duration. For passive viewing, the expansive motion was seen slightly more at 0° vertical eccentricity whereas the translational motion was seen slightly more at 6° (-10% effects). At 0°, the effort dramatically increased the probability of the expansive motion relative to passive viewing, but had no effect on the translational motion regardless of frame duration. At 6°, however, the effort increased the translational motion, but facilitated the expansive motion only for the longest frame duration (600 msec). Conclusions. Substantial interactions obtained between the type of conscious effort and spatial-temporal parameters indicate that the effects of intention (attention) could not be explained by simple criterion shifts. In the present experimental paradigm, the intentional (attentional) control of apparent motion accentuated the intrinsic anisotropy of the visual field. Conversely, the results suggest that attempts to measure the anisotropy of the visual field may be undermined under passive viewing conditions.
• Gibson, B. S., & Peterson, M. A. (1994). Does Orientation-Independent Object Recognition Precede Orientation-Dependent Recognition? Evidence From a Cuing Paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 20(2), 299-316.
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  PMID: 8189194;Abstract: Object recognition may entail an incremental normalization process before access to canonical orientation representations, but is this process guided by prior access to object-centered representations? In Experiment 1, the authors showed observers figure-ground stimuli known to reflect access to, and output from, stored shape representations. The stimuli appeared in each of 6 different orientations, preceded by cues providing either (a) no information, (b) upright shape information only, (c) upright shape information plus orientation information (separately), or (d) shape information in the same orientation as the upcoming figure-ground test stimulus. Contrary to predictions by a postaccess account, the cues failed to eliminate orientation dependency in shape recognition. The results favor a preaccess account of the normalization process within the context of canonical orientation representations.
• Peterson, M. A. (1994). The proper placement of uniform connectedness. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 1(4), 509-514.
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  PMID: 24203560;Abstract: In this journal, Palmer and Rock (1994) articulated a principle of perceptual organization called uniform connectedness (UC); and they contended that previous investigators of perception had failed to realize the need for this organizing principle. The authors outlined a theory of perceptual organization that "places the principle of UC at center stage" (p. 38) in that UC was assigned the two privileged roles of (1) forming the fundamental units for later perceptual processes, and (2) yielding the postconstancy regions that correspond to environmental surfaces. In this commentary, I argue that the proposed theory entails a serial ordering of perceptual processes that is inconsistent with current evidence regarding figure-ground organization, stereo fusion, and object recogntion. In addition, I point out that Kurt Koffka (1935) recognized the need for a principle of unit formation similar to the one proposed by Palmer and Rock. © 1994 Psychonomic Society, Inc.
• Peterson, M. A., & Gibson, B. S. (1994). Object recognition contributions to figure-ground organization: Operations on outlines and subjective contours. Perception & Psychophysics, 56(5), 551-564.
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  PMID: 7991352;Abstract: In previous research, replicated here, we found that some object recognition processes influence figure-ground organization. We have proposed that these object recognition processes operate on edges (or contours)detected early in visual processing, rather than on regions. Consistent with this proposal, influences from object recognition on figure-ground organization were previously observed in both pictures and stereograms depicting regions of different luminance, but not in randomdot stereograms, where edges arise late in processing (Peterson & Gibson, 1993). In the present experiments, we examined whether or not two other types of contours-outlines and subjective contours-enable object recognition influences on figure-ground organization. For both types of contours we observed a pattern of effects similar to that originally obtained with luminance edges. The results of these experiments are valuable for distinguishing between alternative views of the mechanisms mediating object recognition influences on figure-ground organization. In addition, in both Experiments 1 and 2, fixated regions were seen as figure longer than nonfixated regions, suggesting that fixation location must be included among the variables relevant to figure-ground organization. © 1994 Psychonomic Society, Inc.
• Peterson, M., Gibson, B. S., & Peterson, M. A. (1994). Does orientation-independent object recognition precede orientation-dependent recognition? Evidence from a cuing paradigm. Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance, 20(2).
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  Object recognition may entail an incremental normalization process before access to canonical orientation representations, but is this process guided by prior access to object-centered representations? In Experiment 1, the authors showed observers figure-ground stimuli known to reflect access to, and output from, stored shape representations. The stimuli appeared in each of 6 different orientations, preceded by cues providing either (a) no information, (b) upright shape information only, (c) upright shape information plus orientation information (separately), or (d) shape information in the same orientation as the upcoming figure-ground test stimulus. Contrary to predictions by a postaccess account, the cues failed to eliminate orientation dependency in shape recognition. The results favor a preaccess account of the normalization process within the context of canonical orientation representations.
• Peterson, M. A. (1993). Chapter 6 The Ambiguity of Mental Images: Insights Regarding the Structure of Shape Memory and Its Function in Creativity. Advances in Psychology, 98(C), 151-185.
• Peterson, M. A., & Gibson, B. S. (1993). Shape Recognition Inputs To Figure-Ground Organization in Three-Dimensional Displays. Cognitive Psychology, 25(3), 383-429.
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  Abstract: It is generally agreed that figure and ground relationships must be determined, at least provisionally, before shape representations can be assessed. We have proposed that some shape recognition processes can operate in parallel with processes assessing other variables relevant to figure-ground organization. The influence of these shape recognition processes should be observed only when shape edges can be detected early enough in visual processing so that the critical shape recognition operations can be finished before figure-ground computations are completed. In three experiments, we tested this prediction using stereograms portraying two regions equal in area, but unequal in denotivity (roughly, meaningfulness): One region was high in denotivity, the other region was low in denotivity. Binocular disparity specified that either the high denotative region or the low denotative region was in front (i.e., was figure). For some stereograms (random dot stereograms), no edge was visible between the two regions until after stereo fusion; for other stereograms (black-and-white stereograms), a luminance edge was visible before fusion. In black-and-white stereograms, but not in random-dot stereograms, high denotative regions could appear to be in front (i.e., to be figure) and the shapes they depicted could be recognized, even when this organization was inconsistent with the disparity. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that shape recognition processes can contribute to figure-ground computations, at least when the figure-ground border is a luminance contrast edge. Implications for shape recognition and perceptual organization are discussed. © 1993 Academic Press. All rights reserved.
• Peterson, M. A., Kihlstrom, J. F., Rose, P. M., & Glisky, M. L. (1992). Mental images can be ambiguous: Reconstruals and reference-frame reversals. Memory & Cognition, 20(2), 107-123.
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  PMID: 1565009;Abstract: Philosophers and psychologists have debated whether or not mental images of ambiguous-figures are reversible as pictures of such figures are. Previously, empirical evidence both pro (Finke, Pinker, & Farah, 1989) and con (Chambers & Reisberg, 1985) has been obtained. In a series of four experiments, we identify the conditions under which images of classic ambiguous figures like the duck/rabbit and the snail/elephant are reversible. We distinguish between two types of reversal: those that entail a change in reference-frame specification as well as a reconstrual of image components (reference-frame realignments) and those that entail reconstruals only (reconstruals). We show that reference-frame realignments can occur in imagery, particularly if observers are given an explicit or an implicit suggestion; and that reconstruals of images occur commonly, regardless of experimental conditions. In addition, we show that images constructed from good parts are more likely to reverse than images constructed from poor parts. On the basis of these results, we propose a functional organization of shape memory that is consistent with shape -recognition findings as well as with our reversal findings. © 1992 Psychonomic Society, Inc.
• Peterson, M. A., & Gibson, B. S. (1991). Directing Spatial Attention Within an Object: Altering the Functional Equivalence of Shape Descriptions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 17(1), 170-182.
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  PMID: 1826310;Abstract: Three experiments extended the demonstrated effects of spatial attention to a new area, the perceptual organization of objects. We manipulated observers' fixation location, their spatial attention location, and their intentions to hold one alternative of a Necker cube that had been altered in one region to favor one of the alternative interpretations (the biased region) and measured reports about the perceived organization of the cube over 30-s trials. Regardless of fixation location, responses showed obligatory effects of the bias only when observers attended to the biased region of the cube and not when they attended to the unbiased region of the cube, even when the biased region lay between fixation and the attended unbiased region. On the basis of these experiments, we argue that spatial attention operates through mechanisms of facilitation and inhibition to determine the functional nature of the structural description of an object.
• Peterson, M. A., Harvey, E. M., & Weidenbacher, H. J. (1991). Shape Recognition Contributions to Figure-Ground Reversal: Which Route Counts?. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 17(4), 1075-1089.
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  PMID: 1837298;Abstract: Observers viewed upright and inverted versions of figure-ground stimuli, in which Gestalt variables specified that the center was figure. In upright versions, the surround was high in denotivity, in that most viewers agreed it depicted the same shape; in inverted versions, the surround was low in denotivity. The surround was maintained as figure longer and was more likely to be obtained as figure when the stimuli were upright rather than inverted. In four experiments, these effects reflected inputs to figure-ground computations from orientation-specific shape representations only. To account for these findings, a nonratiomorphic mechanism is proposed that enables shape recognition processes before figure-ground relationships are determined.
• Schacter, D. L., Cooper, L. A., Delaney, S. M., Peterson, M. A., & Tharan, M. (1991). Implicit Memory for Possible and Impossible Objects: Constraints on the Construction of Structural Descriptions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 17(1), 3-19.
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  PMID: 1826731;Abstract: Four experiments examined implicit memory or priming effects on an object decision task in which subjects decided whether structurally possible or impossible novel objects could exist in three-dimensional form. Results revealed equivalent levels of priming for possible objects after 1 vs. 4 5-s exposures to the same structural encoding task (Experiment 1) and when objects were studied with a single structural encoding task or 2 different structural encoding tasks (Experiment 3). Explicit memory, by contrast, was greatly affected by both manipulations. However, priming of possible objects was not observed when Ss were given only a single 1-s exposure to perform a structural encoding task (Experiment 2). No evidence for priming of impossible objects was observed in any of the 4 experiments. The data suggest that object decision priming depends on a presemantic structural description system that is distinct from episodic memory.
• Johnson, M. K., Peterson, M. A., Yap, E. C., & Rose, P. M. (1989). Frequency Judgments: The Problem of Defining a Perceptual Event. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15(1), 126-136.
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  PMID: 2522137;Abstract: In four experiments the conditions under which frequency judgments reflect the relative frequency of complex perceptual events were explored. Subjects viewed a series of 4 × 4 grids each containing seven items, which were letters and numbers in one of four typefaces. Later judgment' of the relative frequency with which particular letters appeared in particular typefaces were unaffected by a warning about an upcoming frequency judgment task, but were affected by both the time available for processing the stimuli and the nature of the cover task subjects engaged ir while viewing the grids. Frequency judgments were poor when exposure durations were less than 2 s and when the cover task directed subjects' attention merely to the locations of the items within the grids. Frequency judgments improved when the cover task directed subjects' attention to the identity of the stimuli, especially to the conjunction of letter and typeface. The results suggest that frequency estimation of complex stimuli may be possible only for stimuli that have been processed as phenomenal objects.
• Peterson, M. A., & Hochberg, J. (1989). Necessary considerations for a theory of form perception: a theoretical and empirical reply to Boselie and Leeuwenberg (1986). Perception, 18(1), 105-119.
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  PMID: 2771590;Abstract: Boselie and Leeuwenberg (1986) recently defended their version of the minimum principle, called structural information theory or SIT, against a varied set of criticisms. Two of the most notable of these criticisms are (i) that perceptual organization can proceed as a piecemeal, rather than as a global, process (as demonstrated by partially-biased Necker cubes and 'impossible' figures), and (ii) that perceptual organization is influenced by subjective variables as well as by stimulus variables (Peterson and Hochberg 1983). The second criticism was acknowledged by Boselie and Leeuwenberg but not addressed. The first criticism was addressed by the introduction of two new variables into SIT in order to argue that the perceived organization of partially-biased Necker cubes and impossible figures can be predicted by a global coding scheme, thereby supporting rather than refuting global minimum principles. It is argued here that the criticisms cannot be dismissed by this rebuttal, which is focused narrowly on single examples rather than on the general principles embodied by the demonstrations. The implications of piecemeal perception and subjective mediation are spelled out, and both old and new data showing that the applicability of global minimum principles must be reexamined, not merely defended, are discussed. Finally, the argument for a richer, more interacting, theory of form perception is presented.
• Peterson, M. A., & Shyi, G. C. (1988). The detection of real and apparent concomitant rotation in a three-dimensional cube: Implications for perceptual interactions. Perception & Psychophysics, 44(1), 31-42.
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  PMID: 3405727;Abstract: Apparent concomitant rotation, such as that seen when viewers move laterally relative to a depth-reversed three-dimensional wire cube, has been taken as evidence that perceived distance must precede perceived motion, a proposal that is consistent with taking-into-account theories. Another proposal has been that apparent concomitant motion arises from attention to proximal motion and, hence, cannot support general claims about motion perception. In two experiments, moving viewers saw 700-msec exposures of a cube biased to be seen in either veridical or reversed depth. The cube either rotated or remained stationary. Viewers rated the perceived rotation, using a 4-point scale. The results suggested that depth cues interact with other variables before perceived rotation is computed. Surprisingly, rotations that included a substantial apparent concomitant motion component were rated higher than equivalent rotations that included no illusory motion. This asymmetry suggests that taking-into-account theories must be amended. © 1988 Psychonomic Society, Inc.
• Hochberg, J., & Peterson, M. A. (1987). Piecemeal Organization and Cognitive Components in Object Perception: Perceptually Coupled Responses to Moving Objects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 116(4), 370-380.
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  PMID: 2960775;Abstract: In three experiments, observers who were instructed to perceive one of two alternative depth arrangements of a three-dimensional wire cube fixated near one of two intersections that differed in the degree to which they specified the cube's veridical depth organization. In order to separate perceptual effects from experimenter effects, we measured indirect reports about variables perceptually coupled to perceived depth rather than direct reports about perceived depth. In all three experiments, reversal durations at the two intersections differed, even though the two were parts of a single object. In addition, reversals varied with viewers' intentions. Thus, the unit of perceptual organization may be smaller than the entire object, and viewers' intentions can influence the perception of real moving objects. In additional analyses, reversal durations were separated into two components: nonelective instability and malleability; the question of whether these two components of ambiguity are functionally distinct could not be decided. © 1987 American Psychological Association.
• Peterson, M. A. (1986). Illusory Concomitant Motion in Ambiguous Stereograms. Evidence for Nonstimulus Contributions to Perceptual Organization. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 12(1), 50-60.
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  PMID: 2939191;Abstract: Three experiments were performed to test whether perceptual organization is cognitively or motivationally penetrable. In Experiments 1 and 2, subjects viewed a reversible stereogram while instructed to hold one depth organization. Responses about depth were recorded indirectly by recording responses about direction of the illusory concomitant motion that is perceptually coupled to depth in a stereogram. Inasmuch as perceptually coupled variables covary without necessary stimulus covariation, a postperceptual locus for any intention effects they exhibit is unlikely. Experiments 2 and 3 examined the possibility that instructed intention might influence perception indirectly by influencing eye movements: Viewers' vergence position was measured directly through responses about alignment of a vernier nonius fixation. In all three experiments, a residual effect of instructed intention was found. Therefore, instructed intention may influence perceptual organization by influencing internal nonstimulus components integral to the perceptual process. © 1986 American Psychological Association.
• Peterson, M. A., & Hochberg, J. (1983). Opposed-set measurement procedure: A quantitative analysis of the role of local cues and intention in form perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 9(2), 183-193.
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  Abstract: In 3 experiments with 48 undergraduates, the durations of alternative perceptual organizations of drawings and of a 3-dimensional object were used to provide quantitative measurement of local cue strength and of the viewer's intention. In Exp I, small line drawings of cubes were constructed so that a local depth cue (occlusion) at an upper intersection specified the cube's orientation while the lower intersection remained ambiguous. On any trial, Ss looked at either the biased or the unbiased intersection, with instructions to try to hold one organization or another; hence, the procedure was called the opposed-set method. The stimulus features nearest the S's instructed fixation and the viewer's perceptual task both had strong effects on reported durations. Exp II replicated the findings with a real object (a small 3-dimensional moving wire cube) as well as a drawn one. In Exp III, the opposed-set methodology was applied to figural completion. The quantitative data provided by this procedure show that the whole configuration is not the effective stimulus for perception; the data support a constructivist theory by posing problems for its strongest present competitors: the global minimum principle and the direct theory. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1983 American Psychological Association.

Presentations

• Peterson, M. A. (2020, February/Spring). Figure-Ground Perception: Simply One Outcome of a Dynamic, Interactive, Hierarchical Bayesian Perceptual Process.. Invited Colloquium at Columbia Univerity Psychology Department. Columbia University in the City of New York.
• Peterson, M. A. (2020, NOvember, Fall). Breaking Down the Border Between Perception and Semantics. Psychonomic Society Invited Address. Virtuel (Pandemic Year): Psychonomic Society I.
• Peterson, M. A. (2020, November/Fall). Breaking Down the Boundary between Perception and Semantics. Psychonomic Society Meeting. Virtual.
• Peterson, M. A., Cacciamani, L., Skocypec, R. M., Flowers, C. S., & Perez, D. C. (2020, November/Fall). BOLD Activation on the Groundside of Figures: Prediction Error or Competition-Induced Inhibition?. Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. Virtual.
• Peterson, M. A. (2019, March/Spring). Two Varieties of Semantic Influences on Object Detection.. Meeting of the Society of Experimental Psychologists. Rutgers University, NJ.
• Peterson, M. A. (2019, November/Fall). Figure-Ground Perception: Simply One Outcome of a Dynamic, Interactive, Hierarchical Bayesian Perceptual Process.. Colloquium at University of California, Merced.. University of California, Merced.
• Peterson, M. A. (2019, November/Fall). Figure-Ground Perception: Simply One Outcome of an Interactive Hierarchical Bayesian Predictive Perceptual Process.. Configural Processing Consortium. Montreal, CA..
• Peterson, M. A. (2019, October/Fall). Multiuniversity Research Initiative report. Meeting af Grantees and Students. Stanford University: ONR.
• Peterson, M. A. (2019, September/Fall). Figure-Ground Perception: Simply One Outcome of a Dynamic, Interactive, Hierarchical Bayesian Perceptual Process. Colloquium at the University of Notre Dame. University of Notre Dame.
• Peterson, M. A., & Perez, D. C. (2019, November/Fall). Object memories alter the appearance of blurry borders.. Psychonomic Society Meeting. Montreal, CA..
• Skocypec, R. M., & Peterson, M. A. (2019, November/Fall). Investigating the effect of basic-level predictions on figure assignment.. Object Perception and Memory Meeting. Montreal, CA.
• Flowers, C. S., Palistsky, R., Sullivan, D. L., & Peterson, M. A. (2018, November/Fall). Effect of trial-invariant conjoint spatial-temporal knowledge of target appearance on voluntary spatial and temporal cueing effects.. Object Perception, Attention, and Memory meeting. New Orleans, LA.
• Peterson, M. A. (2018, April/Spring). Object Perception: Beyond a Feedforward View.. The Ian P. Howard Memorial Lecture, Center for Vision Research at York University.. York Univerisyt, Toronto, CA.
• Peterson, M. A. (2018, December/Fall). A surprising Ambiguity in a Classic Figure-Ground Demo Resolved by Cortico-subcortical Interaction OR Why demonstrations are not enough.. UofA/ASU Cognitive Science Conclave. Tempe, AZ.
• Peterson, M. A. (2018, March/Spring). A surprising Ambiguity in a Classic Figure-Ground Demo Resolved by Cortico-subcortical Interaction OR Why demonstrations are not enough.. Society of Experimental Psychologists. Tucson, AZ.
• Peterson, M. A., & Skocypec, R. M. (2018, November/Fall). Semantic Priming of Figure-Assignment: Unmasked Primes, Masked Primes, and Task Set Effects.. Configural Processing Consortium. New Orleans, LA..
• Peterson, M. A., & Skocypec, R. M. (2018, November/Fall). Semantic Priming of Figure-Assignment: Unmasked Primes, Masked Primes, and Task Set Effects.. Psychonomic Society Meeting,. New Orleans, LA.
• Peterson, M. A. (2017, April). Toward a New Understanding of Object Detection.. Keynote Address. Inaugural meeting of the Center for Elite Performance, Expertise and Training. Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
• Peterson, M. A. (2017, June). Toward a New Understanding of Object Detection.. Invited Colloquium Macquarie University. Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
• Peterson, M. A. (2017, June). Toward a New Understanding of Object Detection. University of Sydney Psychology Department Colloquium. Sydney, Australia.
• Peterson, M. A. (2017, June). Women in Science.. Macquarie Women's Meeting. Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
• Peterson, M. A. (2017, March). Toward a New Understanding of Object Detection. UNSW Psychology Colloquium. Sydney, Australia: NSW.
• Peterson, M. A. (2017, March). Toward a New Understanding of Object Detection. University of Newcastle Psychology Colloquium. Newcastle, Australia.
• Peterson, M. A. (2017, March). Women in Science. University of Newcastle Colloquium. Newcastle, Australia.
• Peterson, M. A. (2017, September). Toward a New Understanding of Object Detection. Cognitive Science Colloquium, University of Arizona.. University of Arizona.
• Peterson, M. A., & Salvagio, E. (2017, November). Gestalt Demonstrations Don't Tell the Whole Story of Figure-Ground Perception. Part II: Convexity.. Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
• Flowers, C., & Peterson, M. A. (2016, May). Peripheral Distracting Information That Does Not Reach Consciousness Can Capture Attention and Prime Categorization. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL: Vision Sciences Society Meeting.
• Peterson, M. A. (2016, December). Object Detection: Not So Feed-forward After All. Colloquium. Marketing Department, U of A: Marketing Department, U of A.
• Peterson, M. A. (2016, Fall). From A Serendipitous Finding To A New Understanding Of Object Detection. Keynote Address, Object Perception and Memory Meeting. Keynote Address. Object Perception and Memory Conference. Boston, MA: Object Perception and Memory Conference.
• Peterson, M. A. (2016, July). A Tale of Perception and Memory.. Colloquium presented at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim.. Trondheim, Norway: Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
• Peterson, M. A. (2016, November). Probing the Role of Feedback in Familiarity Responses to Parts of Wholes. Configural Processing Consortium. Boston, MA: Brown University.
• Peterson, M. A. (2016, October). Object Detection: Inhibitory Competition and Effects of Aging. Outreach. AZ Academy: AZ Academy.
• Peterson, M. A., Anderson, J. A., Healey, M. K., & Hasher, L. (2015, November). Age-Related Deficits in Inhibition in Figure-Ground Assignment in Stationary Displays.. Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. Chicago IL..
• Peterson, M. A. (2014, April). Beyond the Classical Feed-forward View of Figure-Ground Segregation. Invited Plenary Address, Toward A Science Of Consciousness Conference. Tucson, AZ.
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  April 25, 2014
• Peterson, M. A. (2014, June). Beyond the Classical Feed-Forward View of Figure-Ground Perception (aka Object Perception). Invited Symposium participant, International Neuropsychological Symposium. Versilia, Italy.
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  June 27, 2014
• Cacciamani, L., Salf, P. S., & Peterson, M. A. (2013, November). Inhibitory Competition And Feedback In Figure-Ground Perception: fMRI Evidence. Talk presented by MAP at the Psychonomic Society Meeting. Toronto, ON, CA.
• Nadel, L., & Peterson, M. A. (2013, June). What is long term episodic memory for?. Talk presented at the International Neuropsychological Symposium. Nerja, SPAIN.
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  June 25 -June 29
• Peterson, M. A. (2013, March). Figure-Ground Perception: The Case for Memory Influences, Competition, and Re-entrant Processes. Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne.
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  March 6, 2013
• Peterson, M. A. (2013, May). Object Perception: Erasing the Border Between Perception and Memory. Smith-Kettlewell. San Francisco, CA.
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  May, 23, 2013
• Peterson, M. A. (2012, April). Figure-Ground Segregation: A Dynamic Interactive Process. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (Conference of Experimental Psychologists). Mannheim, Germany.
• Peterson, M. A. (2012, April). There’s more to vision than meets the eye. University of Kaiserslautern. Germany.
• Peterson, M. A. (2012, June). Memory Influences on Figure-Ground Perception: Evidence for Reentrant Processing. Attention & Perception Conference: Perceptual Organization. Taiwan.
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  June 24, 2012
• Peterson, M. A. (2012, June). Memory Influences on Figure-Ground Perception: Evidence for Reentrant Processing. The University of New South Wales.
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  June 20, 2012
• Peterson, M. A. (2012, June). On Figure Cues, Ground Cues, and Figure-Ground Context Effects. Attention & Perception Conference: Perceptual Organization. Taiwan.
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  June 25, 2012
• Peterson, M. A., Cacciamani, L., Barense, M. D., & Scalf, P. (2012, November). On Parts, Wholes and Familiarity: The Perirhinal Cortex Modulates V2 Activity In Response To The Agreement Between Part Familiarity And Configuration Familiarity. Talk presented at the meeting of the Psychonomic Society. Minneapolis, MN.
• Peterson, M. A., Cacciamani, L., Barense, M. D., & Scalf, P. (2012, November). On Parts, Wholes and Familiarity. Talk presented at the meeting of the Configural Processing Consortium. Minneapolis, MN.
• Sanguinetti, J. L., & Peterson, M. A. (2012, May). Ultra-Rapid Categorization Based on Perceptual Organization. Talk given at the Vision Sciences Society Meeting. Naples, FL.
• Kimchi, R., Peterson, ., & M., A. (2009, 2008-05-01). Figure-ground segmentation can occur without attention.. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. Naples, FL..
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  Kimchi, R. & Peterson, M. A. (May, 2008). Figure-ground segmentation can occur without attention. Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL. Published Abstract: Journal of Vision, 8(6), 825.;Your Role: Author who initiated the research; equal co-author on paper on which talk was based and gave feedback on talk during preparation;Refereed: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: collaborative with colleague at the University of Haifa, Israel.;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009, 2008-05-01). Reconceptualizing Figure-Ground Segregation As Between-Shape Competition: Familiarity Led Me To It.. 2008 Second Annual Tufts University Conference on Emerging Trends in Behavioral, Affective, Social, and Cognitive Neurosciences. Cognitive Neuroscience of Visual Knowledge: Where Vision Meets Memory. Tufts University.
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  Reconceptualizing Figure-Ground Segregation As Between-Shape Competition: Familiarity Led Me To It. Invited presentation in the 2008 Second Annual Tufts University Conference on Emerging Trends in Behavioral, Affective, Social, and Cognitive Neurosciences. Cognitive Neuroscience of Visual Knowledge: Where Vision Meets Memory, May 29-31, 2008.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009, 2008-07-01). Object Perception: New Views. International Congress of Psychology. Berlin, Germany.
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  Invited Symposium;Your Role: Co-organizer of invited symposium; contributed to list of invitees, sent invitations, organized speaker order, chaired session, and timed speakers.;Invited: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Collaborative with colleague at Carnegie mellon University;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009, 2008-07-01). Re-conceptualizing figure-ground perception.. International Congress of Psychology. Berlin, Germany.
  More info

  Re-conceptualizing figure-ground perception. International Congress of Psychology, Berlin, Germany, July, 2008. (In invited symposium organized by Marlene Behrmann and Mary Peterson: Object Perception: New Views.);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009, 2008-09-01). Context Affects Figure-Ground Perception: Global Effects on Local Competition.. Cognitive Colloquium, Indiana University.
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  Context Affects Figure-Ground Perception: Global Effects on Local Competition. Invited Cognitive Colloquium, Indiana University, September 17, 2008.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009, 2008-09-01). Figure-Ground Perception: From Familiarity to Competition.. Cognitive Science Colloquium, Indiana University.
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  Figure-Ground Perception: From Familiarity to Competition. Invited Cognitive Science Colloquium, Indiana University, September 15, 2008.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009, 2009-02-01). The Dynamics of Cross-Edge Competition & Amodal Completion in Figure-Ground Perception.. Perception and Attention. Centre of Behavioural and Cognitive Sicences, Allahabad, India.
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  The Dynamics of Cross-Edge Competition & Amodal Completion in Figure-Ground Perception. Invited Presentation, International Conference on Attention, Centre of Behavioural and Cognitive Sicences, Allahabad, India, December 7-10, 2008.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
• Peterson, M. A., Salvagio, E., & Mojica, A. J. (2009, 2008-11-01). Context effects reveal that figure-ground perception is an instance of biased competition.. Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. Chicago, IL.
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  ;Your Role: First author; presenter;Refereed: Yes;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
• Salvagio, E. M., Mojica, A. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2009, 2008-05-01). Context effects in figure-ground perception: The role of biased competition, suppression and long-range connections.. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. Naples, FL.
  More info

  Salvagio, E. M., Mojica, A. J., & Peterson, M. A. (May, 2008). Context effects in figure-ground perception: The role of biased competition, suppression and long-range connections. Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL. Published Abstract: Journal of Vision, 8(6), 1007.;Refereed: Yes;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
• Kimchi, R., Peterson, ., & M., A. (2008, 2008-05-01). Figure-ground segmentation can occur without attention.. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. Naples, FL..
  More info

  Kimchi, R. & Peterson, M. A. (May, 2008). Figure-ground segmentation can occur without attention. Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL. Published Abstract: Journal of Vision, 8(6), 825.;Your Role: Author who initiated the reserch; equal co-author on paper on which talk was based and gave feedback on talk during preparation;Refereed: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: collaborative with colleague at the University of Haifa, Israel.;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008, 2008-05-01). Reconceptualizing Figure-Ground Segregation As Between-Shape Competition: Familiarity Led Me To It.. 2008 Second Annual Tufts University Conference on Emerging Trends in Behavioral, Affective, Social, and Cognitive Neurosciences. Cognitive Neuroscience of Visual Knowledge: Where Vision Meets Memory. Tufts University.
  More info

  Reconceptualizing Figure-Ground Segregation As Between-Shape Competition: Familiarity Led Me To It. Invited presentation in the 2008 Second Annual Tufts University Conference on Emerging Trends in Behavioral, Affective, Social, and Cognitive Neurosciences. Cognitive Neuroscience of Visual Knowledge: Where Vision Meets Memory, May 29-31, 2008.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008, 2008-07-01). Object Perception: New Views. International Congress of Psychology. Berlin, Germany.
  More info

  Invited Symposium;Your Role: Co-organizer of invited symposium; contributed to list of invitees, sent invitations, organized speaker order, chaired session, and timed speakers.;Invited: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Collaborative with colleague at Carnegie mellon University;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008, 2008-07-01). Re-conceptualizing figure-ground perception.. International Congress of Psychology. Berlin, Germany.
  More info

  Re-conceptualizing figure-ground perception. International Congress of Psychology, Berlin, Germany, July, 2008. (In invited symposium organized by Marlene Behrmann and Mary Peterson: Object Perception: New Views.);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008, 2008-09-01). Context Affects Figure-Ground Perception: Global Effects on Local Competition.. Cognitive Colloquium, Indiana University.
  More info

  Context Affects Figure-Ground Perception: Global Effects on Local Competition. Invited Cognitive Colloquium, Indiana University, September 17, 2008.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008, 2008-09-01). Figure-Ground Perception: From Familiarity to Competition.. Cognitive Science Colloquium, Indiana University.
  More info

  Figure-Ground Perception: From Familiarity to Competition. Invited Cognitive Science Colloquium, Indiana University, September 15, 2008.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008, 2009-02-01). The Dynamics of Cross-Edge Competition & Amodal Completion in Figure-Ground Perception.. Perception and Attention. Centre of Behavioural and Cognitive Sicences, Allahabad, India.
  More info

  The Dynamics of Cross-Edge Competition & Amodal Completion in Figure-Ground Perception. Invited Presentation, International Conference on Attention, Centre of Behavioural and Cognitive Sicences, Allahabad, India, December 7-10, 2008.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
• Peterson, M. A., Salvagio, E., & Mojica, A. J. (2008, 2008-11-01). Context effects reveal that figure-ground perception is an instance of biased competition.. Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. Chicago, IL.
  More info

  ;Your Role: First author; presenter;Refereed: Yes;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
• Salvagio, E. M., Mojica, A. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2008, 2008-05-01). Context effects in figure-ground perception: The role of biased competition, suppression and long-range connections.. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. Naples, FL.
  More info

  Salvagio, E. M., Mojica, A. J., & Peterson, M. A. (May, 2008). Context effects in figure-ground perception: The role of biased competition, suppression and long-range connections. Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL. Published Abstract: Journal of Vision, 8(6), 1007.;Refereed: Yes;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;

Poster Presentations

• Binda, P., Tortelli, C., Salvagio, B., Burr, D., & Peterson, M. A. (2019, August/Fall). Pupillometry provides new insights on figure-ground segregation and its covariation with autistic traits.. European Conference on Visual Perception. , Leuven, Belgium.
• Cacciamani, L., Skocypec, R. M., Flowers, C. S., Perez, D., & Peterson, M. A. (2019, March/Spring). Competition-dependent ground activation in object perception: Evidence for inhibitory competition and/or predictive coding?. Cognitive Neuroscience Society meeting. San Francisco, California.
• Flowers, C. S., & Peterson, M. A. (2019, May/Spring). Does Semantic Priming affect Human Object Detection in Natural Scenes?. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, Florida.
• Peterson, M. A., & Floers, C. S. (2019, November/Fall). Temporal attention capture by portions of unconsciously processed familiar objects.. Object Perception, Attention, and Memory Meeting. Montreal, CA.
• Peterson, M. A., & Perez, D. C. (2019, May/Spring). An investigation on the influence of prior experience on working memory representations. Vision Sciences Society Meeting,. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Peterson, M. A., & Skocypec, R. M. (2019, May/Sprig). The Influence of Semantics on Figure Assignment: Unmasked Primes, Masked Primes, and Context.. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Peterson, M. A., Cacciamani, L., Skoypec, R. M., Flowers, C. S., & Perez, D. C. (2019, June/Summer). Ground activation in object perception: Evidence for inhibitory competition and predictive coding.. Organization for Human Brain Mapping annual meeting. Rome, Italy.
• Flowers, C. S., & Peterson, M. A. (2018, May/Spring). Human Object Detection in Natural Scenes: Evidence From a New Dot Probe Task.. Vision Sciences Society. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Perez, D. C., Cook, S. M., & Peterson, M. A. (2018, April/Spring). Object Memories Alter the Appearance of Blurry Object Borders.. Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Senior Poster Forum. University of Arizona.
• Perez, D. C., Cook, S. M., & Peterson, M. A. (2018, December/Fall). Object Memories Alter the Appearance of Blurry Object Borders. ASU/UA Cognitive Science Conclave. Tempe, AZ.
• Perez, D. C., Cook, S. M., & Peterson, M. A. (2018, May/Spring). Object memories alter the appearance of blurry object borders.. Vision Scuences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Perez, D. C., Jernigan, M. A., Cook, S. M., & Peterson, M. A. (2018, March/Spring). Does Familiarity Increase the Perceived Sharpness of an Object?. Western Alliance for Expanding Student Opportunities (WAESO) conference. Tempe, AZ.
• Skocypec, R. M., & Peterson, M. A. (2018, May/Spring). Do Semantic Expectations Arising From Masked Word Primes Aid Object Detection At The Earliest Level? Now You See It, Now You Don’t. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Peterson, M. A., & Flowers, C. S. (2017, May). Past Experience Within an Experiment Does Not Alter Figure Assignment Pattern.. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL..
• Peterson, M. A., & Skocypec, R. (2017, May). Unmet Expectations May Impede Figure Assignment.. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL..
• Peterson, M. A., Cook, S., & Perez, D. C. (2017, May). An Investigation of the Effect of Prediction on Object Perception.. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL..
• Peterson, M. A., Perez, D. C., & Cook, S. (2017, January). Elucidating the mechanisms of object perception.. UBRP Conference. University of Arizona.
• Cook, S., Flowers, C., & Peterson, M. A. (2016, May). Cook, S., Flowers, C., & Dichoptic Masking Interferes with Feedback to Early Visual Areas when Part- and Whole-Familiarity Conflict.. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL: Vision Sciences Society.
• Lass, J., Bennett, P., Peterson, M. A., & Sekuler, A. (2016, May). Lass, J., , Peterson, M.A, & . (2016, May). Reduced convexity context effects in elderly not attributable to reduced presumption of depth. Poster presented at the ,. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL: Vision Sciences Society.
• Peterson, M. A., Orsten-Hooge, K. D., Skocypec, R. M., & Jannuzi, B. G. (2016, November). Semantic Priming Influences Object Detection. Poster presented at the ,. Object Perception and Memory Conference. Boston, MA: Object Perception and Memory Conference.
• Peterson, M. A., Orsten-Hooge, K., & Skocypec, R. (2016, May). Semantic Priming Facilitates Figure Assignment For Both Intact Familiar Objects And Their Parts (Despite Predictive Coding Error).. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL: Vision Sciences Society.
• Peterson, M. A., Scotti, P., Malcom, G., & Shomstein, S. (2016, May). Reality vs. Simplicity: The Effects of Real-World Objects on Attentional Selection.. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL: Vision Sciences Society.
• Scotti, P., Malcolm, G. L., Peterson, M. A., & Shomstein, S. (2016, November). Scotti, P. , Peterson, M.A., & Reality vs. Simplicity: The Effects of Real-World Objects on Attentional Selection.. Object Perception and Memory Conference. Boston, MA: Object Perception and Memory Conference.
• Ayars, A., Peterson, M., & Sanguinetti, J. (2015, May). Semantic Unmasking Effect is Not Explained by Triggering of Memory.. Journal of vision.
• Burrola, M., Mathieson, D., Raymond, J., & Peterson, M. (2015, May). Gains and Losses: Is Figure Ground Perception Influenced by Motivation or Learned Value?. Journal of vision.
• Lass, J., Bennett, P. J., Peterson, M. A., & Sekuler, A. B. (2015, June). The effects of motion cues on figure-ground perception in healthy aging.. International Conference on Perceptual Organization. Center for Visual Research, York University, Toronto, CA.
• Lass, J., Bennett, P., Peterson, M., & Sekuler, A. (2015, May). The effects of motion cues on figure-ground perception across the lifespan.. Journal of vision.
• Salvagio, E., Gomez, R., & Peterson, M. (2015, May). Is prior experience necessary for 5.5 month-old infants to use the statistical regularity of an unchanging object on an changing background for segmentation?. Journal of vision.
• Ayars, A., Mojica, A. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2014, May). Looking Beyond the Means: Rapid Learning of Prime-Display Relationship in a Semantic Priming Experiment. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Burrola, M., & Peterson, M. A. (2014, May). Global Influences on Figure Assignment: The Role of the Border. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Cacciamani, L., Scalf, P., & Peterson, M. A. (2014, May). Competition-based ground suppression in extrastriate cortex and the role of attention. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Cacciamani, L., Wager, E., Peterson, M. A., & Scalf, P. (2014, October). Connectivity between the perirhinal cortex and V2 in young and older adults. Society for Neuroscience. San Diego.
• Duran, G., & Peterson, M. A. (2014, May). Implicit measures of whether conceptual knowledge increases interest in photographs. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Ghose, T., & Peterson, M. A. (2014, May). Using Extremal Edge to Decouple Closeness and Shape in Figure-Ground Perception. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Lass, J., Hashemi, A. J., Bennett, P., Peterson, M. A., & Sekuler, A. B. (2014, May). Neural Signals Underlying the Convexity Context Effect. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Mura, K., Ghose, T., & Peterson, M. A. (2014, May). Context Effects on Figure-Ground Perception with Both Convexity and Extremal Edge Cues. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Peterson, M. A., & Sanguinetti, J. L. (2014, November). Increased Alpha Band Activity Indexes Inhibitory Competition Across A Border During Figure Assignment. Psychonomic Society Meeting. Long Beach, CA.
• Salvagio, E., Gomez, R., & Peterson, M. A. (2014, May). Can infants (5.5 months-old) use object repetition to segment objects from their backgrounds?. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.
• Sanguinetti, J., Trujillo, L. T., Schnyer, D., Allen, J. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2014, May). Increased alpha band activity indexes inhibitory competition across a border during figure assignment. Vision Sciences Society Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL.

Reviews

• Peterson, M. A., & Salvagio, E. (2010. Figure-ground Perception..
  More info

  Peterson, M. A. & Salvagio, E. (2009). Figure-ground perception. Scholarpedia. http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Figure-ground_perception;Your Role: first author; wrote first draft, re-wrote with input from second author;Electronic: Yes;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Type of Publication: Peer Reviewed Encyclopedia (online);

Creative Productions

• Peterson, M. A. (2013. There’s more to seeing than meets the eye. Arizona Daily Star.

Others

• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Associate Editor, WIRES: Wley Interdisciplinary Reviews; Cognitive Science.
  More info

  Associate Editor, WIRES: Wley Interdisciplinary Reviews; Cognitive Science
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Attended the Festschrift in honor of Anne Treisman, Princeton University, May 16, 2008..
  More info

  Attended the Festschrift in honor of Anne Treisman, Princeton University, May 16, 2008.
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Attended the MicKnight Brain Research Foundation Inter-Institutional Meeting. April 16-18, 2008..
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  Attended the MicKnight Brain Research Foundation Inter-Institutional Meeting. April 16-18, 2008.
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Attended the Parahippocampal Cortex Mini-Symposium, May 19, 2008..
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  Attended the Parahippocampal Cortex Mini-Symposium, May 19, 2008.
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Discussant, Configural Processing Consortium Meeting, Notre Dame, Nov. 11, 2008.
  More info

  Discussant, Configural Processing Consortium Meeting, Notre Dame, Nov. 11, 2008
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Figure-ground perception: History and future directions.
  More info

  This is an invited tutorial review, to be published in a journal of the Psychonomic Society.;Full Citation: Peterson, M. A. (in preparation). Figure-ground perception: History and future directions. Perception & Psychophysics.;Status: Paper in Preparation;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). LouAnn Gerken and I are collaborating on a project investigating whether infants use convexity as a.
  More info

  LouAnn Gerken and I are collaborating on a project investigating whether infants use convexity as a cue to where figures (objects) lie in the visual field. We're testing 4-month old and 9-month old infants. Two undergraduate honors students have collaborated on this research.
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Memory in Visual Search..
  More info

  This is a research article based on Emily Skow's dissertation research conducted in my laboratory.;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Full Citation: Skow, E., & Peterson, M. A. (in preparation). Memory in Visual Search.;Status: Paper in Preparation;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Michael Kubovy (University of Virginia) and I began a collaboration on figure-ground perception..
  More info

  Michael Kubovy (University of Virginia) and I began a collaboration on figure-ground perception.
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Necessary and sufficient conditions for context effects in figure-ground perception symmetry: Tests of small area and symmetry..
  More info

  This paper, joint with 2 gradaute students in my laboratory examines whether context effects extend to the class of figure-ground cues, or whether they are specific to one cue (convexity). These results reveal that convexity has a unique status, contrary to traditional thought.;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Full Citation: Peterson. M.A., Mojica. A. J., & Salvagio, E. M. (in preparation). Necessary and sufficient conditions for context effects in figure-ground perception symmetry: Tests of small area and symmetry.;Status: Paper in Preparation;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Neurophysiological evidence for differential processing of high- and low- competition figure-ground stimuli..
  More info

  This paper reports 2 experiments, one of which was part of Logan Trujillo's dissertation, conducted when he was a graduate student jointly working in my lab and John Allen's lab. ;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Full Citation: Trujillo, L. T., Allen, J. J. B., & Peterson, M. A. (under revision). Neurophysiological evidence for differential processing of high- and low- competition figure-ground stimuli. ;Status: Under Revision (Revise and Resubmit);
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). On the relationship between negative priming and competition in figure-ground perception..
  More info

  ;Full Citation: Peterson, M. A. (in preparation). On the relationship between negative priming and competition in figure-ground perception. To appear in Wolfe, J. M. & Robertson, L. (2009). Festschrift for Anne Treisman. NY: Oxford University Press.;Status: Paper in Preparation;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Organizing Committee Member, Configural Processing Consortium. (We hold an annual meeting in Novembe.
  More info

  Organizing Committee Member, Configural Processing Consortium. (We hold an annual meeting in November, the day before the Psychonomic Society meeting starts.)
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Regularly attend the Cognitive Science Colloquia, Fridays at noon..
  More info

  Regularly attend the Cognitive Science Colloquia, Fridays at noon.
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Series Co-Editor with Gillian Rhodes, University of Western Australia, Oxford University Press Serie.
  More info

  Series Co-Editor with Gillian Rhodes, University of Western Australia, Oxford University Press Series on Visual Cognition
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). The role of amodal completion in context effects in figure-ground perception..
  More info

  This paper will report 6 experiments explicating the mechanism underlying the context effects reported by Peterson & Salvagio (2008).;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Full Citation: Peterson, M. A., & Salvagio, E. M. (in preparation). The role of amodal completion in context effects in figure-ground perception.;Status: Paper in Preparation;
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Wrote the Final Report for NSF grant, "Implicit Measure of Shape Learning and Shape Perception." (8/.
  More info

  Wrote the Final Report for NSF grant, "Implicit Measure of Shape Learning and Shape Perception." (8/1/2004 - 7/31/2008)
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Wrote the Final Report for NSF grant, "Perceptual Organization in Visual Search: Context Effects." (.
  More info

  Wrote the Final Report for NSF grant, "Perceptual Organization in Visual Search: Context Effects." (8/1/2004 - 7/31/2008)
• Peterson, M. A. (2009). Zygmunt Pizlo (Purdue University), his post-doc, Tadasama Sawada, and I began a collaboration on sha.
  More info

  Zygmunt Pizlo (Purdue University), his post-doc, Tadasama Sawada, and I began a collaboration on shape perception. My graduate student, Andrew Mojica became involved this fall.
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). Associate Editor, WIRES: Wley Interdisciplinary Reviews; Cognitive Science.
  More info

  Associate Editor, WIRES: Wley Interdisciplinary Reviews; Cognitive Science
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). Discussant, Configural Processing Consortium Meeting, Notre Dame, Nov. 11, 2008.
  More info

  Discussant, Configural Processing Consortium Meeting, Notre Dame, Nov. 11, 2008
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). Figure-ground perception: History and future directions.
  More info

  This is an invited tutorial review, to be published in a journal of the Psychonomic Society.;Full Citation: Peterson, M. A. (in preparation). Figure-ground perception: History and future directions. Perception & Psychophysics.;Status: Paper in Preparation;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). LouAnn Gerken and I are collaborating on a project investigating whether infants use convexity as a.
  More info

  LouAnn Gerken and I are collaborating on a project investigating whether infants use convexity as a cue to where figures (objects) lie in the visual field. We're testing 4-month old and 9-month old infants. Two undergraduate honors students have collaborated on this research.
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). Memory in Visual Search..
  More info

  This is a research article based on Emily Skow's dissertation research conducted in my laboratory.;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Full Citation: Skow, E., & Peterson, M. A. (in preparation). Memory in Visual Search.;Status: Paper in Preparation;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). Necessary and sufficient conditions for context effects in figure-ground perception symmetry: Tests of small area and symmetry..
  More info

  This paper, joint with 2 gradaute students in my laboratory examines whether context effects extend to the class of figure-ground cues, or whether they are specific to one cue (convexity). These results reveal that convexity has a unique status, contrary to traditional thought.;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Full Citation: Peterson. M.A., Mojica. A. J., & Salvagio, E. M. (in preparation). Necessary and sufficient conditions for context effects in figure-ground perception symmetry: Tests of small area and symmetry.;Status: Paper in Preparation;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). On the relationship between negative priming and competition in figure-ground perception..
  More info

  ;Full Citation: Peterson, M. A. (in preparation). On the relationship between negative priming and competition in figure-ground perception. To appear in Wolfe, J. M. & Robertson, L. (2009). Festschrift for Anne Treisman. NY: Oxford University Press.;Status: Paper in Preparation;
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). Organizing Committee Member, Configural Processing Consortium. (We hold an annual meeting in Novembe.
  More info

  Organizing Committee Member, Configural Processing Consortium. (We hold an annual meeting in November, the day before the Psychonomic Society meeting starts.)
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). Series Co-Editor with Gillian Rhodes, University of Western Australia, Oxford University Press Serie.
  More info

  Series Co-Editor with Gillian Rhodes, University of Western Australia, Oxford University Press Series on Visual Cognition
• Peterson, M. A. (2008). The role of amodal completion in context effects in figure-ground perception..
  More info

  This paper will report 6 experiments explicating the mechanism underlying the context effects reported by Peterson & Salvagio (2008).;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Full Citation: Peterson, M. A., & Salvagio, E. M. (in preparation). The role of amodal completion in context effects in figure-ground perception.;Status: Paper in Preparation;