title: Iconic memory for the gist of natural scenes.
abstract: Does iconic memory contain the gist of multiple scenes? Three experiments were conducted. In the first, four scenes from different basic-level categories were briefly presented in one of two conditions: a cue or a no-cue condition. The cue condition was designed to provide an index of the contents of iconic memory of the display. Subjects were more sensitive to scene gist in the cue condition than in the no-cue condition. In the second, the scenes came from the same basic-level category. We found no difference in sensitivity between the two conditions. In the third, six scenes from different basic level categories were presented in the visual periphery. Subjects were more sensitive to scene gist in the cue condition. These results suggest that scene gist is contained in iconic memory even in the visual periphery; however, iconic representations are not sufficiently detailed to distinguish between scenes coming from the same category.
authors.affiliation: The New School for Social Research, Visual Perception Lab, 80 Fifth Avenue, 7th floor, New York City, NY 10011, United States. Electronic address: clarj081@newschool.edu.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: The New School for Social Research, Visual Perception Lab, 80 Fifth Avenue, 7th floor, New York City, NY 10011, United States.
authors.forename: Arien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mack
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Gist perception; Iconic memory; Natural scene perception