Category-specific effects on the identification of non-manipulable objects.
Theories of category-specific effects on visual object identification predict easier identification of non-living than living objects. The Sensory-Functional theory credits greater representational weighting of the visual properties of living objects independent of greater weighting of the functional properties of non-living objects. It predicts a lost or reversed non-living advantage for non-manipulable objects. Normal participants matched pictures of non-manipulable objects with words describing three levels of identity while visual object similarity, and concept familiarity were controlled. Consistent with the Sensory-Functional theory, living objects were matched faster than non-living objects. Concept familiarity facilitated subordinate matches. Visual similarity hampered subordinate matches and facilitated basic matches.
McMullen
Patricia A
PA
Department of Psychology and The Neuroscience Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1. mcmullen@dal.ca
Purdy
Kerri S
KS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002965:Classification; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D012016:Reference Values; D012660:Semantics