H. Intraub et al., BOUNDARY EXTENSION FOR BRIEFLY GLIMPSED PHOTOGRAPHS - DO COMMON PERCEPTUAL PROCESSES RESULT IN UNEXPECTED MEMORY DISTORTIONS, Journal of memory and language, 35(2), 1996, pp. 118-134
''Boundary extension'' is a memory illusion in which observers remembe
r seeing more of a scene than was shown. Two experiments tested the po
ssibility that this spatial distortion occurs soon after picture perce
ption. In Experiment 1, undergraduates viewed close-up or wide-angle p
hotographs for 250 ms or 4 s. Recall and recognition tests followed. B
rief presentations yielded as much boundary extension as long presenta
tions. In Experiment 2, picture triads were presented at a rate of 333
ms per picture with no interstimulus interval. After 1 s, one picture
repeated and remained in view while subjects indicated whether it was
the same or showed more or less of the scene. Even when conditions mi
micked a series of rapid eye fixations, boundary extension occurred. T
he presentation of a picture appears to activate a perceptual schema t
hat allows observers to understand it in a larger context and this pro
cess distorts memory for its actual boundaries. (C) 1996 Academic Pres
s, Inc.