PSYC 2650 Chapter Notes - Chapter chapter 4: Word Superiority Effect, Simple Features, Bigram
31 Oct 2016
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PSYC 2650 – Cognitive Psychology week 3
Chapter 4: Recognizing Objects
Recognition: Some Early Consideration
• Variations in stimuli and context which objects are encountered that define the complexity of
object recognition
• Can recognize objects even when the information is partial
• Bottom-up processes: processes that are directly shaped by the stimulus
• Top-down processes: processes shaped by knowledge – rely on your knowledge
• Recognition may begin with the identification of visual features – once the visual features are
recognized , you can then start assembling the larger units
Apperceptive agnosia: a disorder that involves an inability to assemble the various aspects of an input
into an organized whole
Integrative agnosia: appear normal in tasks requiring them to detect features in a display; but impaired
when asked to judge how the features are bound together to form complex objects
Word Recognition
• Once simple features are detected – larger mechanisms are at work to put the features together
Facts Influencing Recognition
• Tachistoscopic presentations: brief displays of stimuli (using computers in modern day)
• Each stimulus is followed by a poststimulus mask → a random jumble of letters
o Mask serves to interrupt any continued processing that participants might try to do for
the stimulus which was just presented
• Recency of view also influences recognition
• Repetition priming: the first time the word is viewed, is a primer for the second exposure
The Word Superiority Effect
• Words that are viewed frequently and/or recently are easier to perceive
• Word superiority effect: words are easier to perceive than isolated letters
o To test – use a to alteratie, fored hoie so the partiipat has a 50-50 chance of
guessing correctly in either category (letter and word)
Degree of Well-Formedness
• No otet effet i the presetatio of the strig “BNE → the E presented in a string such as
this will not show the word superiority effect due to how the string is formed
o The E is not easier to recognize in the string than it would be when isolated
• Cotet effet i the presetatio of the strig FIKE or LAFE → the word is not an English
word but is formed to be more recognizable as one
o Word superiority effect is shown here because the letters in this context are easier to
idetif tha isolated letter F
• This is well-formedness – deteriig ho ell-fored a letter strig is
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