Abstract
Most psychological, physiological, and computational models of early vision suggest that retinal information is divided into a parallel set of feature modules. The dominant theories of visual search assume that these modules form a “blackboard“ architecture: a set of independent representations that communicate only through a central processor. A review of research shows that blackboard-based theories, such as feature-integration theory, cannot easily explain the existing data. The experimental evidence is more consistent with a “network” architecture, which stresses that: (1) feature modules are directly connected to one another, (2)features and their locations are represented together, (3) feature detection and integration are not distinct processing stages, and (4) no executive control process, such as focal attention, is needed to integrate features. Attention is not a spotlight that synthesizes objects from raw features. Instead, it is better to conceptualize attention as an aperture which masks irrelevant visual information.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atkinson, J., &Braddick, O. (1989). “Where” and “what” in visual search.Perception,18, 181–189.
Attneave, F. (1974). Apparent motion and the what-where connection.Psychoiogia,17, 108–120.
Ballard, D. (1984). Parameter nets.Artificial Intelligence,22, 235–267.
Ballard, D. (1985).Cortical connections and parallel processing: Structure and function (Tech. Rep. No. TR133). New York: University of Rochester.
Ballard.D. (1986). Cortical connections and parallel processing: Structure and function.Behavioral & Brain Sciences,9, 67–120.
Ballard, D., Hinton, G., &Sejnowski, T. (1983). Parallel visual computation.Nature,306, 21–26.
Barlow, H. (1981). The Ferrier lecture: Critical limiting factors in the design of the eye and visual cortex.Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Series B,212, 1–34.
Barlow, H. (1986). Why have multiple cortical areas?Vision Research,26, 81–90.
Barnard, S., &Thompson, W. (1980). Binocular disparity analysis of images.IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis & Machine Analysis.PAMI-2, 333–340.
Barrow, H., &Tenenbaum, J. (1978). Recovering intrinsic scene characteristics from images. In E. Riseman (Ed.),Computer vision systems (pp. 3–26). New York: Academic Press.
Bergen, J., &Julesz, B. (1983). Rapid discrimination of visual patterns.IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man & Cybernetics,SMC-13, 857–863.
Blake, R., &Fox, R. (1974). Adaptation to invisible gratings and the site of binocular suppression.Nature,249, 488–490.
Braddick, O., Campbell, F., &Atkinson, J. (1978). Channels in vision: Basic aspects. In R. Held, H. Leibowitz, & H.-L. Teuber (Eds.),Handbook of sensory physiology (pp. 3–37). Berlin: Springer Verlag.
Breitmeyer, B., &Ganz, L. (1976). Implications of sustained and transient channels for theories of visual pattern masking, saccadic suppression and information processing.Psychological Review,83, 1–36.
Briand, K. A., &Klein, R. M. (1987). Is Posner’s “beam” the same as Treisman’s “glue“?: On the relation between visual orienting and feature integration theory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,13, 228–241.
Briand, K. A., &Klein, R. M. (1989). Has feature integration theory come unglued? A reply to T sal.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,15, 401–406.
Bullier, J., &Girard, P. (1988). Visual responses of neurons in area V2 and in the superior temporal sulcus of the macaque monkey during reversible inactivation of area V1.Society of Neuroscience Abstracts,14, 602.
Caelli, T., &Moraglia, G. (1985). On the detection of Gabor signals and discrimination of Gabor textures.Vision Research,25, 671–684.
Callaghan, T. C. (1984). Dimensional interaction of hue and brightness in preattentive field segregation.Perception & Psychophysics,36, 25–34.
Callaghan, T. C. (1989). Interference and dominance in texture segregation: Hue, geometric form, and line orientation.Perception & Psychophysics,46, 299–311.
Callaghan, T. C., Lasaga, M. I., &Garner, W. R. (1986). Visual texture segregation based on orientation and hue.Perception & Psychophysics,39, 32–38.
Cavanagh, P., &Favreau, O. (1985). Color and luminance share a common motion pathway.Vision Research,25, 1595–1601.
Cavanagh, P., Tyler, C., &Favreau, O. (1984). Perceived velocity of moving chromatic gratings.Journal of the Optical Society of America A,1, 1428–1438.
Cohen, A., &Ivry, R. (1989). Illusory conjunctions inside and outside the focus of attention.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,15, 650–663.
Cowey, A. (1979). Cortical maps and visual perception: The Grindley memorial lecture.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,31, 1–17.
Dehaene, S. (1989). Discriminability and dimensionality effects in visual search for featural conjunctions: A functional pop-out.Perception & Psychophysics,46, 72–80.
Devalois, K., &Switkes, E. (1983). Simultaneous masking interactions between chromatic and luminance gratings.Journal of the Optical Society of America,73, 11–18.
Deyoe, E. A., &Van Essen, D. C. (1988). Concurrent processing streams in monkey visual cortex.Trends in Neuroscience,5, 219–226.
Durbin, R., &Mitchison, G. (1990). A dimension reduction framework for understanding cortical mappings.Nature,343, 645–647.
Egeth, H., Virzi, R., &Garbart, H. (1984). Searching for conjunctively defined targets.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,10, 32–39.
Eriksen, C. W., &Hoffman, J. E. (1972). Temporal and spatial characteristics of selective encoding from visual displays.Perception & Psychophysics,12, 201–204.
Erman, L., Hayes-Roth, F., Lesser, V., &Reddy, R. (1980). The Hearsay II speech understanding system: Integrating knowledge to resolve uncertainty.Computing Survey,14, 213–253.
Eskew, R. (1989). The gap effect revisited: Slow changes in chromatic sensitivity as affected by luminance and chromatic borders.Vision Research,29, 717–729.
Farell, B. (1984). Attention in the processing of complex visual displays: Detecting features and their combinations.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,10, 40–64.
Fahle, M. (1990).A new elementary feature of vision. Unpublished manuscript.
Garner, W. R. (1974).The processing of information and structure. Potomac, MD: Erlbaum.
Gathercole, S., &Broadbent, D. (1987). Spatial factors in visual attention: Some compensatory effects of location and time of arrival oftargets.Perception,16, 433–443.
Girard, P., &Bullier, J. (1989). Visual activity in area V2 during reversible inactivation of area 17 in the macaque monkey.Journal of Neurophysiology,62, 1287–1302.
Gorea, A., &Julesz, J. (1990). Context superiority in a detection task with line element stimuli: A low-level effect.Perception,19, 5–16.
Green, M.(1984). Masking by light and the sustained-transient dichotomy.Perception & Psychophysics,35, 519–535.
Green, M. (1986). What determines correspondence strength in apparent motion?Vision Research,26, 599–608.
Green, M. (1989). Color correspondence in apparent motion.Perception & Psychophysics,45, 15–20.
Green, M. (1991).Form captures color, color captures form. Manuscript submitted for publication,
Green, M. (in press). Visual search: Detection, identification and localization.Perception.
Green, M., A Odom, J. V. (1991).Occlusion, segmentation and the aperture problem. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Green, M., Terman, M., &Terman, J. (1979). Comparison of yes-no and latency measures of auditory intensity discrimination.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,33, 363–372.
Hallet, P. E.(1986). Eye movements. In K. Boff, L. Kaufman, & J. Thomas (Eds.),Handbook of perception and human performance. New York: Wiley.
Hilz, R., Rentschler, I., &Brettel, H. (1981). Insensitivity of peripheral vision to spatial phase.Experimental Brain Research,43, 111–114.
Hoffman, J. E. (1978). Search through a sequentially presented visual display.Perception & Psychophysics,23, 1–11.
Hotjck, M., &Hoffman, J. (1986). Conjunction of color and form without attention: Evidence from an orientation-contingent color aftereffect.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,12, 186–199.
Hubel, D., &Livingstone, M. (1985). Complex-unoriented cells in a subregion of primate area 18.Nature,315, 325–327.
Hubel, D., &Livingstone, M. (1987). Segregation of form, color and stereopsis in primate area 18.Journal of Neuroscience,7, 3378–3417.
Johnston, J. C, &Pashler, H. (1990). Close binding of identity and location in visual feature perception.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,16, 843–856.
Klenker, P., Sejnowski, T., Hinton, G., &Schumacher, L. (1986). Separating figure-from ground with a parallel network.Perception,15, 197–216.
Kleffner, D., &Ramachandran, V. (1988). Interaction of motion, color and depth.Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (Suppl.),30, 299.
Krose, B., &Julesz, J. (1989). The control and speed of shifts of attention.Vision Research,29, 1607–1619.
Levine, D., Warach, J., &Farah, M. (1985). Two visual systems in mental imagery: Dissociation of “what” and “where” in imagery disorders due to bilateral posterior cerebral lesions.Neurology,35, 1010–1018.
Livingstone, M., &Hubel, D. (1987). Psychophysical evidence for separate channels for the perception of form, color, motion and depth.Journal of Neuroscience,7, 3416–3468.
Livingstone, M., &Hubel, D., (1988). Segregation of form, color, movement and depth: Anatomy, physiology and perception.Science,240, 740–749.
Lu, C., &Fender, D. (1972). The interaction of color and luminance in stereoscopic vision.Investigative Ophthalmology,11, 482.
Luck, S., Hillyard, S., Mangun, G., &Gazzaniga, M. (1990). Independent hemispheric attentional systems mediate visual search in split brain patients.Nature,342, 543–545.
Mcleod, P., Driver, J., &Crisp, J. (1988). Visual search for aeonjunction of movement and form is parallel.Nature,332, 154–155.
Mishkin, M., Ungerleider, L., &Macro, K. (1983), Object vision and spatial vision.Trends in Neuroscience,6, 414–417.
Moraglia, G. (1989a). Display organization and the detection of horizontal line segments.Perception & Psychophysics,45, 265–272.
Moraglia, G. (1989b). Visual search: Spatial frequency and orientation.Perceptual & Motor Skills,69, 675–689.
Moran, J., &Desimone, R. (1985). Selective attention gates visual processing in extrastriate cortex.Science,229, 782–784.
Mordkoff, J. T., Yantis, S., &Egeth, H. E. (1990). Detecting conjunctions of color and form in parallel.Perception & Psychophysics,48, 157–168.
Morrone, M., Burr, D., &Spinelu, D. (1989). Discrimination of spatial phase in central and peripheral vision,Vision Research,29, 433–445.
Nakayama, K., &Mackben, J. (1990). Sustained and transient components of focal visual attention.Vision Research,29, 1631–1647.
Nakayama, K., &Silverman, G. (1986). Serial and parallel processing of visual feature conjunctions.Nature,320, 264–265.
Navon, D. (1990a). Does attention serve to integrate features?Psychological Review,97, 453–459.
Navon, D. (1990b). Treisman’s search model does not require feature integration: Rejoinder to Treisman (1990).Psychological Review,91, 464–465.
Newcombe, F., &Russell, W. (1969). Dissociated visual perceptual and spatial deficits in local lesions of the right hemisphere.Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry,32, 73–81.
Nothdurft, H. (1985). Sensitivity for structure gradient in texture discrimination tasks.Vision Research,25, 1957–1968.
Pashler, H. (1987). Target-distractor discriminability in visual search.Perception & Psychophysics,41, 285–292.
Pashler, H. (1988). Cross-dimensional interaction and texture segregation.Perception & Psychophysics,43, 307–318.
Phillips, C., Zeki, S., &Barlow, H. (1984). Localization of function in cerebral cortex: Past, present and future.Brain,107, 327–361.
Poggio, T., Gamble, E., &Little, J. (1988). Parallel integration of visual modules.Science,242, 436–439.
Posner, M. (1978).Chronometrie explorations of the mind. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Prinzmetal, W., &Keysar, B. (1989). Functional theory of illusory conjunctions and neon colors.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,118, 165–190.
Prinzmetal, W., Presti, D., &Posner, M. (1986). Does attention affect visual feature integration?Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,12, 361–369.
Quinlan, P. T., &Humphrey, G. W. (1987). Visual search for targets defined by combinations of color, shape, and size: An examination of the task constraints on feature and conjunction searches.Perception & Psychophysics,41, 455–472.
Ramachandran, V., (1987). Interaction between colour and motion in human vision.Nature,328, 645–648.
Rivest, J., &Cavanagh, P. (1991). Cross media cooperation in localization of contours.Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (Suppl.),32, 1024.
Sagi, D. (1988). The combination of spatial frequency and orientation is effortlessly perceived.Perception & Psychophysics,43, 601–603.
Sagi, D. (1990). Detection of an orientation singularity in Gabor textures: Effects of signal density and spatial frequency.Vision Research,30, 1377–1388.
Sagi, D., &Julesz, J. (1985). “Where” and “what” in vision.Science,228, 1217–1219.
Sagi, D., &Julesz.,J. (1987). Short-range limitations on detection of feature differences.Spatial Vision,2, 39–49.
Savoy, R. (1987). Contingent aftereffects and isolumirkance: Psycho physical evidence for separation of color, orientation and motion.Computer Vision, Graphics & Image Processing,37, 3–19.
Schwartz, S., &Loop, M. (1982). Evidence for transient luminance and quasi-sustained color mechanisms.Vision Research,22, 445–447.
Simon, H. (1969).The sciences of the artificial. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Steinman, S. (1987). Serial and parallel search in pattern recognition.Perception,16, 389–398.
Stromeyer, C. F., III, &Mansfield, R. I. W. (1970). Colored aftereffects produced with moving edges.Perception & Psvchophysics,7, 108–114.
Switkes, E., Bradley, &,Devalois, K. (1988). Contrast dependence and mechanisms of masking interactions among chromatic and luminance gratings.Journal of the Optical Society of America A,7, 1149–1162.
Townsend, J. (1972). Some results concerning the identifiability of parallel and serial processes.British Journal of Mathematical & Statistical Psychology,25, 168–199.
Treisman, A. (1990). Variations on the theme of feature integration: Reply to Navon (1990).Psychological Review,95, 460–463.
Treisman, A., &Gelade, G. (1980). A feature-integration theory of perception.Cognitive Psychology,12, 97–136.
Treisman, A., &Gormican, S. (1988). Feature analysis in early vision: Evidence from search asymmetries.Psychological Review,95, 15–48.
Treisman, A., &Sato, S. (1990). Conjunction search revisited.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,16, 459–478.
Treisman, A., &Schmidt, H.(1982). Illusory conjunctions in the perception of objects.Cognitive Psychology,14, 12–31.
Troscianko, T., &Fahle, M. (1986). Why do isoluminant stimuli slow down?Perception,15, A29.
Troscianko, T., &Harris, J. (1986). Phase discrimination in chromatic gratings.Perception,15, A18.
Tsal, Y. (1989a). Do illusory conjunctions support feature integration theory? A critical view of theory and findings.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,15, 394–400.
Tsal, Y. (1989b). Further comments on feature integration.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,15, 407–410.
Ungerleider, L., &Mishkin.M. (1982). Two conical systems. In D. Ingle, M. A. Goodale, & R. J. Mansfield (Eds.),Analysis of visual behavior (pp. 549–586). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Walters, D..Biederman, I., &Weisstein, N. (1983). The combination of spatial frequency and orientation are not effortlessly perceived.Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science,24(Suppl.), 238.
Wolfe, J., Cave, K., &Franzel, S. (1989). A modified feature- integration model for visual search.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,15, 419–433.
Zeki, S. (1989). Functional specialization and multi-stage integration in the visual cortex.Perception,18, A263.
Zohary, E., &Hochstein, S. (1989). How serial is serial processing in vision?Perception,18, 191–200.
Zucker, S. (1976).Relaxation labelling and the reduction of local ambiguities (Tech. Rep. No. TR451). College Park, MD: University of Maryland.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by NSERC Grant OPB0046297 to M. Green.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Green, M. Visual search, visual streams, and visual architectures. Perception & Psychophysics 50, 388–403 (1991). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212232
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212232