Perceptual global processing and hierarchically organized affordances – the lack of interaction between vision-for-perception and vision-for-action

• Published in: Polish psychological bulletin Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 151 - 166
• Main Authors: Styrkowiec, Piotr, Nęcka, Edward
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Versita 09.11.2012
• Subjects: affordances; perceptual global processing; visuo-motor information processing
• ISSN: 0079-2993
• DOI: 10.2478/v10059-012-0017-2

In visual information processing, two kinds of vision are distinguished: vision-for-perception related to the conscious identifi cation of objects, and vision-for-action that deals with visual control of movements. Neuroscience suggests that these two functions are performed by two separate brain neural systems - the ventral and dorsal pathways (Milner and Goodale, 1995). Two experiments using behavioural measures were conducted with the objective of exploring any potential interaction between these two functions of vision. The aim was to combine in one task methods allowing for the simultaneous capture of both perceptual global processing and affordance extraction and to check whether they infi uence each other. This aim was achieved by employing the paradigms of Navon (1977) and Tucker and Ellis (1998). A compound fi gure was created made up of objects with handles that might or might not have orientation congruent between levels. The results revealed that while the affordance effect occurred every time, the Navon effect appeared only when subjects focused their attention on object elements responsible for inconsistence within compound fi gure. Most importantly, even when these two effects occurred at once, they had no effect on each other. Results from the study failed to confi rm the hypothesis about interaction and gives support to the view that vision-for-perception and vision-for-action tend to act as separate systems.