Perceptual grouping and different attention demand of grouping cues

Abstract EN

The different attention demands of grouping cues have been debated for more than a century (Mack, Tang, Tuma,Kahn, & Rock, 1992; behrmaaBeck & Palmar, 2002; Razepurker & Kimchi, 2007).

The aim of this study was to assess the different attention demands of grouping cues in visual research, using grouping by orientation, proximity and similarity.

52 postgraduate students (18 male and 34 female) from the University of Leicester participated in this study.

E-Prime (Psychology Software Tools, Inc.) was used to generate stimuli on the computer screen and to collect the responses of the subject.

The test was composed of 5 conditions, which were: filled and grouped as control groups.

And proximity, similarity and orientation as the experimental groups.

Each condition was composed of 4 set sizes which were 1, 5, 10 and 15.

There were two levels relating to presence: present, which required a “Yes” answer, and absent, which required a “No” answer.

Forty-eight practice trails were used with filled and grouped shapes, with 18 trails in each condition, giving 720 trails overall.

This application was developed at Leicester University.

The results suggest that while orientation and proximity show similar attention demand with respect to reaction times (RT), all other conditions and set sizes show significant differences in attention demand with respect to RT.