Attention modulates set representation by statistical properties.

Full Abstract

Recent reports have claimed that observers show accurate knowledge of the mean size of a group of similar objects, a finding that has been interpreted to suggest that sets of multiple objects are represented in terms of their statistical properties, such as mean size (Ariely, 2001; Chong & Treisman, 2003, 2005a, 2005b). In the present study, we directed visual attention to a single set member and found that mean estimations were modulated according to the size of the attended item, regardless of whether size was the relevant search criterion (Experiment 1) or not (Experiment 2). These findings suggest that observers do not always accurately average together the entire set, and that instead the average is either biased by the features of the attended item, or based on a short-cut strategy of extracting the mean of a smaller subset.

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Author information

Author/s: de Fockert, Jan W (JW); Marchant, Alexander P (AP);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, England. j.de-fockert(-atsign-)gold.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Perception & psychophysics (Percept Psychophys), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jul; vol 70 (issue 5) : pp 789-94

Dates: Created 2008/07/10; Completed 2008/08/12;

PMID: 18613627, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Attention
Data Interpretation, Statistical

Data Interpretation, Statistical
Humans

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