title: A model for conceptual processing of naturalistic scenes.
abstract: Are there fundamental differences in the way in which a list of pictures and a list of words are processed? We report three experiments that examine serial position effects for rapidly-presented naturalistic scenes. The experiments provide a basis for comparison with the U-shaped serial position curve and list-length effect which typically result from verbal learning experiments. In contrast to the U-shaped verbal serial position function, our results show a flat function at the beginning serial positions and a recency effect which is small and limited to the last serial position. There is a set-size effect. Results suggest that the processing leading to a memory representation for visual stimuli such as pictures and linguistic stimuli such as words is qualitatively dissimilar. The findings can be accounted for by a serial processing model whose main parameter is the probability that the subject will switch attention from one picture to the next.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hanna
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Loftus
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D003210:Concept Formation; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011932:Reading; D012691:Serial Learning