Inattention and the perception of visual feature conjunctions

Abstract

Visual processing of objects in the absence of focused attention appears to be limited. We varied the degree of attention, or visual processing, that observers paid to objects using an instruction set manipulation. In 2 experiments, subjects performed tasks that required superficial or detailed visual analysis of the objects involved. In subsequent recognition tests, information about conjunctions of shape and internal color/texture pattern was limited when only superficial visual analysis was required to encode the object. This implies that the degree of visual processing, during object encoding affects the likelihood that feature conjunctions are incorporated into the visual representation of these objects.