Abstract
We investigate the effect of spatial categories on visual perception. In three experiments, participants made same/different judgments on pairs of simultaneously presented dot-cross configurations. For different trials, the position of the dot within each cross could differ with respect to either categorical spatial relations (the dots occupied different quadrants) or coordinate spatial relations (the dots occupied different positions within the same quadrant). The dot-cross configurations also varied in how readily the dot position could be lexicalized. In harder-to-name trials, crosses formed a “+” shape such that each quadrant was associated with two discrete lexicalized spatial categories (e.g., “above” and “left”). In easier-to-name trials, both crosses were rotated 45° to form an “×” shape such that quadrants were unambiguously associated with a single lexicalized spatial category (e.g., “above” or “left”). In Experiment 1, participants were more accurate when discriminating categorical information between easier-to-name categories and more accurate at discriminating coordinate spatial information within harder-to-name categories. Subsequent experiments attempted to down-regulate or up-regulate the involvement of language in task performance. Results from Experiment 2 (verbal interference) and Experiment 3 (verbal training) suggest that the observed spatial relation type-by-nameability interaction is resistant to online language manipulations previously shown to affect color and object-based perceptual processing. The results across all three experiments suggest that robust biases in the visual perception of spatial relations correlate with patterns of lexicalization, but do not appear to be modulated by language online.
Highlights
Do spatial categories like ‘‘left’’ and ‘‘above’’ penetrate perception? it has been demonstrated that space can influence how we perceive other domains as varied as time [1], and soccer [2], there is surprisingly little research investigating whether spatial perception is modulated by spatial categories
Kosslyn [14] speculated that cortical specializations for categorical spatial information processing in the left hemisphere, and coordinate information in the right, was the evolutionary result of prior hemispheric specializations for speech
We predicted that if language plays a critical role in the observed perceptual biases, down-regulating the activation of category labels via a verbal interference task should decrease the difference in performance between the easier-to-name (x) and harder-toname (+) trials
Summary
Do spatial categories like ‘‘left’’ and ‘‘above’’ penetrate perception? it has been demonstrated that space can influence how we perceive other domains as varied as time [1], and soccer [2], there is surprisingly little research investigating whether spatial perception is modulated by spatial categories. Studies with adults investigating relations between spatial categorization and visual processing generally have not examined the influence of spatial categories on perception. Instead they have tended to probe how verbal labels [6], verbal interference [7,8,9], conceptual heuristics [10,11], or cross cultural differences in frames of reference [12,13] influence spatial memory using recall, physical reconstruction, reorientation, or rating tasks. Kosslyn [14] originally proposed that spatial relations can be divided into two broad types: Categorical relations refer to discrete spatial relations frequently lexicalized by locative prepositions like ‘‘left’’, ‘‘right’’, ‘‘above’’, and ‘‘below.’’ Coordinate relations are finer-grained metric relations, such as analog distances. Kosslyn [18] more or less reversed his theory, hypothesizing that low-level perceptual biases in left hemisphere structures important for abstraction (and categorization) served as a precursor for the development of language in proximate cortical areas. (See [19] for a short review.)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
