Abstract
The number of items in an array can be quickly and accurately estimated by dividing the array into subgroups, in a strategy termed “groupitizing.” For example, when memorizing a telephone number, it is better to do so by divide the number into several segments. Different forms of visual grouping can affect the precision of the enumeration of a large set of items. Previous studies have found that when groupitizing, enumeration precision is improved by grouping arrays using visual proximity and color similarity. Based on Gestalt theory, Palmer (Cognit Psychol 24:436, 1992) divided perceptual grouping into intrinsic (e.g., proximity, similarity) and extrinsic (e.g., connectedness, common region) principles. Studies have investigated groupitizing effects on intrinsic grouping. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has explored groupitizing effects for extrinsic grouping cues. Therefore, this study explored whether extrinsic grouping cues differed from intrinsic grouping cues for groupitizing effects in numerosity perception. The results showed that both extrinsic and intrinsic grouping cues improved enumeration precision. However, extrinsic grouping was more accurate in terms of the sensory precision of the numerosity perception.
Highlights
The number of items in an array can be quickly and accurately estimated by dividing the array into subgroups, in a strategy termed “groupitizing.” For example, when memorizing a telephone number, it is better to do so by divide the number into several segments
With an increasing number of items, the time required to determine the number of items increases correspondingly while requiring the coordination of many visual and spatial operations, as the observer determines the number of objects by c ounting[8,9].When the number of items in clusters is large and cannot be counted in a very short time, numerosity perception may be inaccurate, pursuant to Weber’s Law, the approximate number system (ANS) can be relied upon[10]
As in several previous studies[14,15], we investigated grouping effects on reaction times (RTs) and sensory precision (Eq 1)
Summary
The number of items in an array can be quickly and accurately estimated by dividing the array into subgroups, in a strategy termed “groupitizing.” For example, when memorizing a telephone number, it is better to do so by divide the number into several segments. Previous studies have found that when groupitizing, enumeration precision is improved by grouping arrays using visual proximity and color similarity. This study explored whether extrinsic grouping cues differed from intrinsic grouping cues for groupitizing effects in numerosity perception. For a small number of items (usually less than 4), humans can quickly and accurately determine the number of items in the clusters This is called “subitizing,” which indicates that the items can be understood immediately, without thinking[4,6,7]. Beyond subitizing, counting and estimation, recent studies have found that arrays visually divided into subgroups can be enumerated faster and more accurately than ungrouped arrays; this is called “groupitizing”[4,13,14,15,16,17]. Wertheimer (1923) proposed the main principles of perceptual grouping, which specified which regions of images constituted objects or perceptual units, such as similarity, proximity, symmetry, good c ontinuity[21]
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