Cultural differences in perceptual reorganization in US and Pirahã adults.

Jennifer M D Yoon,Edward Gibson,Nathan Witthoft,Michael C Frank,Daniel L Everett,Jonathan Winawer,Michael H Herzog

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110225

Jennifer M D Yoon, Edward Gibson + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110225

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Abstract

Visual illusions and other perceptual phenomena can be used as tools to uncover the otherwise hidden constructive processes that give rise to perception. Although many perceptual processes are assumed to be universal, variable susceptibility to certain illusions and perceptual effects across populations suggests a role for factors that vary culturally. One striking phenomenon is seen with two-tone images—photos reduced to two tones: black and white. Deficient recognition is observed in young children under conditions that trigger automatic recognition in adults. Here we show a similar lack of cue-triggered perceptual reorganization in the Pirahã, a hunter-gatherer tribe with limited exposure to modern visual media, suggesting such recognition is experience- and culture-specific.

Highlights

A core principle of vision science is that perception is not a passive reflection of the external world, but a process of constructive interpretation of inherently ambiguous input
We tested whether Pirahaparticipants showed perceptual reorganization of two-tone images when they were viewed sideby-side with the original photograph from which they were generated
U.S control participants performed at ceiling, successfully identifying the target location in every previously unrecognized image, the Pirahafound this task extremely challenging

Summary

Introduction

A core principle of vision science is that perception is not a passive reflection of the external world, but a process of constructive interpretation of inherently ambiguous input. Images projected onto the retina have the same inherent ambiguity, and a wide range of perceptual judgments ranging from lightness [1], to color, to depth, to shape and identity, are the result of ‘‘unconscious inferences’’ by the visual system [2]. Such inferences are often presumed to be automatic and culturally universal [3,4,5]. If the viewer recognizes the previously unrecognized image, perception reorganization is said to have been successful. (Following the Gestalt school, we use the terms ‘‘perceptual organization’’ and ‘‘perceptual reorganization’’ to emphasize the process by which local image features are appropriately integrated or segregated in order to arrive at a meaningful interpretation of the image—a ‘‘gestalt’’ [4])

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