Semantic effects on object selection in real-world scene perception

Abstract

When trying to predict where the eyes will go next in the free exploration of real-world scenes, recent models have focused on the analysis of visual stimulus properties in order to compute the priority that will be assigned to a given scene component or object. Possible influences on gaze control that are rooted in the meaning of the scene and the semantic relation of the scene to the objects in it, have been regarded as elusive and mostly relevant to later stages of scene exploration. This chapter reviews recent theoretical developments that provide a more acceptable framework for considering influences of object-in-scene semantics on gaze control. In addition, it presents eye-tracking data recorded in intentional search and exogenous cueing paradigms, which demonstrate reliable and immediate context effects on eye guidance in meaningful scenes.