Object individuation in enumeration and multiple-object tracking

在一个复杂的动态视觉场景中，往往有太多的对象，无法同时感知它们。因此，需要选择性的注意来选择一些，而忽略另一些。要在众多项目中选择一个项目，触摸它或详细查看它，需要有一种“个性化”的方法，以便它可以被视为独立的，与其他看起来相同的项目分开。此外，因为物品经常移动和改变，所以需要有一种方法来跟踪它们，以便每个物品将被视为相同的“一个”，尽管属性和位置发生了变化。这项研究的目的是研究跟踪和个性化在整个生命周期中是如何变化的，以及这些能力与工作记忆、注意力、涉及跟踪位置的听觉和触觉任务之间的关系。为了研究这些，我使用了两个相关的任务，它们都需要项目个性化。一种是多目标跟踪：当多个目标项目在其他可视项目中移动时，能够跟踪它们的位置，这是许多日常任务的重要组成部分，包括驾驶。第二个任务是空间枚举：说出一个视觉场景中有多少个项目的能力。这些研究将对生命发展、注意力、数字认知和知觉运动协调等理论产生影响。此外，为了了解与年龄相关的疾病，如阿尔茨海默病，了解正常衰老过程中表现如何变化是至关重要的。还有其他实际意义。在加拿大，车辆碰撞是造成伤害和死亡的主要原因，但在失业、社会和保健费用以及损害方面，它们也给社会造成了损失。加拿大交通部估计，每年这些费用总计占加拿大年度国内生产总值的4.9%。年龄较大的司机在某些类型的碰撞中尤其危险，他们最有可能因此死亡或受重伤。通过研究个性化和跟踪，有可能开发预测器来识别对自己和他人构成风险的驾驶员，从而允许干预以减少碰撞和死亡。

In a complex dynamic visual scene, there are often too many objects to be able to perceive them all at once. Consequently, selective attention is needed to choose some while others are ignored. To select an item among others, to touch it or look at it in detail, there needs to be a way to "individuate it" so that it can be considered as individual, separate from other items that look the same. As well, because items often move and change, there needs to be a way to track them, so that each item will be considered as the same "one" despite changes in properties and position. The objectives for this research are to study how tracking and individuation change across the lifespan, and how these abilities relate to working memory, attention, and auditory and tactile tasks that involve keeping track of location. To study these, I use two related tasks that both require item individuation. One is multiple object tracking: the ability to keep track of the positions of multiple target items as they move among other visual items, an important component of many daily tasks, including driving. A second task is spatial enumeration: the ability to say how many items there are in a visual scene. These investigations will have an impact on theories of life-span development, attention, numerical cognition, and perceptual-motor coordination. Furthermore, in order to understand age-related disorders such as Alzheimer's disease it is essential to have information about how performance changes with normal aging. There are other practical implications as well. In Canada, vehicle collisions are a leading cause of injury and death, but they also exact costs to society in terms of lost work, social and health care expenses, and damages. Transport Canada estimates that every year these costs sum to 4.9% of Canada's annual Gross Domestic Product. Older drivers are especially at risk for certain types of collision and are most likely to die or sustain serious injury as a result. By studying individuation and tracking, it may be possible to develop predictors to identify drivers who pose risks to themselves and others, thus permitting interventions to reduce collisions and deaths.