Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
4035671 | Vision Research | 2006 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
In contrast to artificial geometric shapes, natural scenes and face-gender can be processed even when spatial attention is not fully available. In this study, we investigate whether a finer discrimination, at the level of the individual, is possible in the near-absence of focal attention. Using the paradigm, subjects performed face identification on faces of celebrities and relatively unfamiliar individuals, along with a task that is known to engage spatial attention. We find that face-identification performance is only modestly impaired under dual-task conditions. These results suggest that the visual system is well able to make complex judgments of natural stimuli, even when attention is not fully available.
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Authors
Leila Reddy, Lavanya Reddy, Christof Koch,