Visual Search in 3D: Effects of Monoscopic and Stereoscopic Cues to Depth on the Validity of Feature Integration Theory and Perceptual Load Theory

Bibliographic Details
Title: Visual Search in 3D: Effects of Monoscopic and Stereoscopic Cues to Depth on the Validity of Feature Integration Theory and Perceptual Load Theory
Authors: Ciara M. Greene, John Broughan, Anthony Hanlon, Seán Keane, Sophia Hanrahan, Stephen Kerr, Brendan Rooney
Source: Frontiers in Psychology, Vol 12 (2021)
Publisher Information: Frontiers Media S.A., 2021.
Publication Year: 2021
Collection: LCC:Psychology
Subject Terms: visual search, 3D, stereoscopic depth, monoscopic depth, feature integration, distractor congruency, Psychology, BF1-990
More Details: Previous research has successfully used feature integration theory to operationalise the predictions of Perceptual Load Theory, while simultaneously testing the predictions of both models. Building on this work, we test the extent to which these models hold up in a 3D world. In two experiments, participants responded to a target stimulus within an array of shapes whose apparent depth was manipulated using a combination of monoscopic and stereoscopic cues. The search task was designed to test the predictions of (a) feature integration theory, as the target was identified by a single feature or a conjunction of features and embedded in search arrays of varying size, and (b) perceptual load theory, as the task included congruent and incongruent distractors presented alongside search tasks imposing high or low perceptual load. Findings from both experiments upheld the predictions of feature integration theory, regardless of 2D/3D condition. Longer search times in conditions with a combination of monoscopic and stereoscopic depth cues suggests that binding features into three-dimensional objects requires greater attentional effort. This additional effort should have implications for perceptual load theory, yet our findings did not uphold its predictions; the effect of incongruent distractors did not differ between conjunction search trials (conceptualised as high perceptual load) and feature search trials (low perceptual load). Individual differences in susceptibility to the effects of perceptual load were evident and likely explain the absence of load effects. Overall, our findings suggest that feature integration theory may be useful for predicting attentional performance in a 3D world.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1664-1078
Relation: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.596511/full; https://doaj.org/toc/1664-1078
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.596511
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/95502ba7968a43d1a8d25d6915ddbcd4
Accession Number: edsdoj.95502ba7968a43d1a8d25d6915ddbcd4
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:16641078
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.596511
Published in:Frontiers in Psychology
Language:English