Spatial frequency selection and integration of global and local information in visual processing: A selective review and tribute to Shlomo Bentin

Previous research has suggested a relationship between processing lower versus higher spatial frequencies (SFs) and global/local perception, respectively. Here we honor Shlomo Bentin by reviewing the work we conducted with him regarding this issue. This work was aimed at investigating the mechanisms by which selective attention to spatial frequency (SF) mediates global and local perception in general and how these perceptual levels are integrated with the shapes that define them. The experiments demonstrate that attention to global and local aspects of a hierarchical display biases the flexible selection of relatively lower and relatively higher SFs during image processing. Additionally, attentional selection of SF allows for the shapes in a hierarchical display to be integrated with the level (global/local) at which they occur. The studies reviewed here provide strong evidence that the flexible, top-down selection of low-level SF channels mediates the perception of global and local elements of visual displays. The studies also support a hemisphere asymmetry in this process, with right hemisphere functions biased toward global perception and left hemisphere functions biased toward local.