Feature integration theory: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Theory of human visual attention}}

'''Feature integration theory''' is a theory of [[attention]] developed in 1980 by [[Anne Treisman]] and Garry Gelade that suggests that when perceiving a stimulus, features are "registered early, automatically, and in parallel, while objects are identified separately" and at a later stage in processing. The theory has been one of the most influential [[cognitive model|psychological model]]s of human visual [[attention]].

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According to Treisman, the first stage of the feature integration theory is the preattentive stage. During this stage, different parts of the brain automatically gather information about basic features (colors, shape, movement) that are found in the visual field. The idea that features are automatically separated appears counterintuitive. However, we are not aware of this process because it occurs early in perceptual processing, before we become conscious of the object.

The second stage of feature integration theory is the focused attention stage, where a subject combines individual features of an object to perceive the whole object. Combining individual features of an object requires attention, and selecting that object occurs within a "master map" of locations. The master map of locations contains all the locations in which features have been detected, with each ___location in the master map having access to the multiple feature maps. These multiple feature maps, or sub-maps, contain a large storage base of features. Features such as color, shape, orientation, sound, and movement are stored in these sub-maps <ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Kristjánsson |firstfirst1=Árni |last2=Egeth |first2=Howard |date=2020-01-01 |title=How feature integration theory integrated cognitive psychology, neurophysiology, and psychophysics |url=https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-019-01803-7 |journal=Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics |language=en |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=7–23 |doi=10.3758/s13414-019-01803-7 |issn=1943-393X|doi-access=free |pmid=31290134 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Chan |firstfirst1=Louis K. H. |last2=Hayward |first2=William G. |date=2009 |title=Feature integration theory revisited: Dissociating feature detection and attentional guidance in visual search. |url=http://doi.apa.org/getdoi.cfm?doi=10.1037/0096-1523.35.1.119 |journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance |language=en |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=119–132 |doi=10.1037/0096-1523.35.1.119 |pmid=19170475 |issn=1939-1277|url-access=subscription }}</ref>.When attention is focused at a particular ___location on the map, the features currently in that position are attended to and are stored in "object files". If the object is familiar, associations are made between the object and prior knowledge, which results in identification of that object. This top-down process, using prior knowledge to inform a current situation or decision, is paramount in either identifying or recognizing objects.<ref>{{Cite book |lastlast1=Nobre |firstfirst1=Kia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mtXQAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&authuser=0#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Oxford Handbook of Attention |last2=Kastner |first2=Sabine |date=2014 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-967511-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Chan |firstfirst1=Louis K. H. |last2=Hayward |first2=William G. |date=2009 |title=Feature integration theory revisited: Dissociating feature detection and attentional guidance in visual search. |url=http://doi.apa.org/getdoi.cfm?doi=10.1037/0096-1523.35.1.119 |journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance |language=en |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=119–132 |doi=10.1037/0096-1523.35.1.119 |pmid=19170475 |issn=1939-1277|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In support of this stage, researchers often refer to patients with [[Balint's syndrome]]. Due to damage in the parietal lobe, these people are unable to focus attention on individual objects. Given a stimulus that requires combining features, people with Balint's syndrome are unable to focus attention long enough to combine the features, providing support for this stage of the theory.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cohen|first1=Asher|last2=Rafal|first2=Robert D.|date=1991|title=Attention and Feature Integration: Illusory Conjunctions in a Patient with a Parietal Lobe Lesion|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/40062648|journal=Psychological Science|volume=2|issue=2|pages=106–110|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.1991.tb00109.x |jstor=40062648 |s2cid=145171384 |issn=0956-7976|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

[[File:FITstages.png|alt=The stages of feature integration theory|thumb|300px|The stages of feature integration theory]]