Seeing the disappearance of unseen objects. Mitroff, S. R & Scholl, B. J Perception, 33(10):1267-73, 2004. abstract bibtex Because of the massive amount of incoming visual information, perception is fundamentally selective. We are aware of only a small subset of our visual input at any given moment, and a great deal of activity can occur right in front of our eyes without reaching awareness. While previous work has shown that even salient visual objects can go unseen, here we demonstrate the opposite pattern, wherein observers perceive stimuli which are not physically present. In particular, we show in two motion-induced blindness experiments that unseen objects can momentarily reenter awareness when they physically disappear: in some situations, you can see the disappearance of something you can't see. Moreover, when a stimulus changes outside of awareness in this situation and then physically disappears, observers momentarily see the altered version–thus perceiving properties of an object that they had never seen before, after that object is already gone. This phenomenon of 'perceptual reentry' yields new insights into the relationship between visual memory and conscious awareness.
@Article{Mitroff2004a,
author = {Stephen R Mitroff and Brian J Scholl},
journal = {Perception},
title = {Seeing the disappearance of unseen objects.},
year = {2004},
number = {10},
pages = {1267-73},
volume = {33},
abstract = {Because of the massive amount of incoming visual information, perception
is fundamentally selective. We are aware of only a small subset of
our visual input at any given moment, and a great deal of activity
can occur right in front of our eyes without reaching awareness.
While previous work has shown that even salient visual objects can
go unseen, here we demonstrate the opposite pattern, wherein observers
perceive stimuli which are not physically present. In particular,
we show in two motion-induced blindness experiments that unseen objects
can momentarily reenter awareness when they physically disappear:
in some situations, you can see the disappearance of something you
can't see. Moreover, when a stimulus changes outside of awareness
in this situation and then physically disappears, observers momentarily
see the altered version--thus perceiving properties of an object
that they had never seen before, after that object is already gone.
This phenomenon of 'perceptual reentry' yields new insights into
the relationship between visual memory and conscious awareness.},
keywords = {Attention, Awareness, Axilla, Biopsy, Breast Neoplasms, Carcinoma, Concept Formation, Consciousness, Cues, Discrimination (Psychology), Discrimination Learning, Distance Perception, Ductal, English Abstract, Extramural, False Negative Reactions, Female, Field Dependence-Independence, Fine-Needle, Humans, Intraductal, Lymph Node Excision, Lymph Nodes, Lymphatic Metastasis, Memory, Motion Perception, N.I.H., Non-P.H.S., Noninfiltrating, Object Attachment, Optical Illusions, Orientation, P.H.S., Pattern Recognition, Photic Stimulation, Problem Solving, Prognosis, Psychophysics, Reading, Reproducibility of Results, Research Support, Rotation, Semantics, Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy, Set (Psychology), Short-Term, Switzerland, U.S. Gov't, Unconscious (Psychology), Visual, Visual Perception, 15693670},
}
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In particular, we show in two motion-induced blindness experiments that unseen objects can momentarily reenter awareness when they physically disappear: in some situations, you can see the disappearance of something you can't see. Moreover, when a stimulus changes outside of awareness in this situation and then physically disappears, observers momentarily see the altered version–thus perceiving properties of an object that they had never seen before, after that object is already gone. 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We are aware of only a small subset of\n\tour visual input at any given moment, and a great deal of activity\n\tcan occur right in front of our eyes without reaching awareness.\n\tWhile previous work has shown that even salient visual objects can\n\tgo unseen, here we demonstrate the opposite pattern, wherein observers\n\tperceive stimuli which are not physically present. In particular,\n\twe show in two motion-induced blindness experiments that unseen objects\n\tcan momentarily reenter awareness when they physically disappear:\n\tin some situations, you can see the disappearance of something you\n\tcan't see. Moreover, when a stimulus changes outside of awareness\n\tin this situation and then physically disappears, observers momentarily\n\tsee the altered version--thus perceiving properties of an object\n\tthat they had never seen before, after that object is already gone.\n\tThis phenomenon of 'perceptual reentry' yields new insights into\n\tthe relationship between visual memory and conscious awareness.},\n keywords = {Attention, Awareness, Axilla, Biopsy, Breast Neoplasms, Carcinoma, Concept Formation, Consciousness, Cues, Discrimination (Psychology), Discrimination Learning, Distance Perception, Ductal, English Abstract, Extramural, False Negative Reactions, Female, Field Dependence-Independence, Fine-Needle, Humans, Intraductal, Lymph Node Excision, Lymph Nodes, Lymphatic Metastasis, Memory, Motion Perception, N.I.H., Non-P.H.S., Noninfiltrating, Object Attachment, Optical Illusions, Orientation, P.H.S., Pattern Recognition, Photic Stimulation, Problem Solving, Prognosis, Psychophysics, Reading, Reproducibility of Results, Research Support, Rotation, Semantics, Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy, Set (Psychology), Short-Term, Switzerland, U.S. Gov't, Unconscious (Psychology), Visual, Visual Perception, 15693670},\n}\n\n","author_short":["Mitroff, S. 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