title: Selecting a reference object.
abstract: One way to describe the location of an object is to relate it to another object. Often there are many nearby objects, each of which could serve as a candidate to be the reference object. A common theoretical assumption is that features that make a given object salient relative to the candidate set are instrumental in determining which is selected. The current research tests this assumption, assessing the relative importance of spatial, perceptual, and functional-interactive features. Three experiments demonstrated that spatial features have the strongest influence on reference object selection, with the perceptual feature of color playing no significant role. Functional-interactive features were shown to be spatially dependent, having an influence only when the spatial configuration enabled an interaction between the located object and the reference object. These findings challenge the common perspective that salience in and of itself dictates reference object selection and argue for a reliance on spatial features.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Nortre Dame, IN 46556, USA. jmille39@nd.edu
authors.forename: Jared E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: Patrick L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Hill
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003118:Color Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011601:Psychophysics; D012016:Reference Values; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities