- Perceiving Topological Structure
of 2-D Patterns
-
- Date: 06/09/99
- Time: 1:30-2:30 p.m.
- Location: Bldg.262/Rm.100
- Speaker: Heiko Hecht
I investigated observers' sensitivity to
the topological structure of visual stimuli. Three factors were
taken to capture the topological structure of 2-D patterns: The
number of disconnected components, the number of holes (connections),
and inclusion relationships. If studied in isolation, any given
topological property is typically confounded with the presence
of particular features such as line terminations and contour
length, or with Gestalt principles of perceptual organization.
We went beyond existing studies and attempted to systematically
remove potential confounds from the stimulus displays. Results
showed that processing speeds for two-dimensional patterns are
a function of their topological properties. The more patterns
differ in their topological structure the easier they can be
discriminated. Not only do all three topological factors contribute
to pattern discriminability, they also can be combined to provide
an overall measure of structural complexity. Forced choice comparison
techniques agreed well with similarity judgments. Topological
structure thus contributed to discriminability above and beyond
many confounding variables. Claims suggesting a general topological
analyzer in visual processing are discussed. |
