The formation of visual objects

描述(由申请人提供)：知觉分组是将最初原始的和早期的视觉图像组织成知觉“对象”的过程。什么空间因素导致知觉分组？图像被逐步组织的计算顺序是什么？对这一过程进行建模的一个困难来源是，与早期视觉的许多方面不同，知觉分组本质上涉及非局部：计算--整合来自图像中潜在遥远位置的线索。理解知觉分组的另一个困难是缺乏客观和时间上精确的方法来实际测量观察者对图像的主观组织。这一建议试图将(A)在理解知觉分组所涉及的非局部计算方面的最新进展与(B)确定主观组织的新的实验方法相结合。实验方法是基于这样的发现，即感知对象享有某些客观可测量的好处，包括它们内部的视觉比较比不同对象之间的视觉比较更有效。这项建议试图利用这一效应来发现视觉系统实际上将什么视为知觉对象，以及这种知觉是如何在处理过程中发展的。大多数拟议的实验都涉及精心设计的人工刺激，其中包含各种有效的分组线索，旨在详细比较每个潜在分组线索的强度、相互作用和时间进程。此外，一些实验涉及自然图像，以揭示在更自然的条件下知觉组织是如何进行的。这项研究可能导致计算机视觉领域的技术进步，以及更好地理解视觉失认和阅读困难等知觉组织障碍。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Perceptual grouping is the process by which the initially raw and inchoate visual image is organized into perceptual "objects". What spatial factors induce perceptual grouping? What is the sequence of computations whereby the image is progressively organized? One source of difficulty in modeling this process is that, unlike many aspects of early vision, perceptual grouping inherently involves non-local: computations - integration of cues from potentially distant locations in the image. Another difficulty in understanding perceptual grouping has been the lack of objective and temporally precise methods for actually measuring the observer's subjective organization of an image. This proposal seeks to combine (a) recent advances in understanding the non-local computations involved in perceptual grouping with (b) novel experimental methods for determining subjective organization. The experimental methods are based on the finding that perceptual objects enjoy certain objectively measurable benefits, including more efficient visual comparisons within them than between distinct objects. This proposal seeks to use this effect to discover what the visual system in fact treats as a perceptual object, and how this percept develops over the course of processing. Most of the proposed experiments involve carefully constructed artificial stimuli with various grouping cues in force, designed to allow detailed comparisons of the strength, interaction, and time-course of each potential grouping cue. In addition, several experiments involve natural images, in order to uncover how perceptual organization proceeds under more naturalistic conditions. This research may lead to technological advancement in the area of computer vision, as well as to better understanding of disorders of perceptual organization such as visual agnosia and dyslexia.