PARALLEL-PROCESSING OF PART-WHOLE INFORMATION IN VISUAL-SEARCH TASKS

Combination of information from the parallel processing of different b asic features (color, size, etc.) can be used to guide attention to ta rgets defined by conjunctions of those features. Wolfe et al. (1990) a rgued that, although it was possible to guide attention to the conjunc tion of, for instance, color and orientation, it was not possible to g uide attention to targets defined by conjunctions of two colors or two orientations. The present experiments demonstrate an exception to thi s rule. Although it is true that attention cannot be guided to a targe t that has red and green parts, attention can be guided to an item tha t can be described as a whole red target with a green part. In Experim ents 1 and 2, we illustrate this point. In Experiments 3 and 4, we rul e out some simple size-based accounts of this finding. In Experiments 5 and 6, we begin to explore the nature of these first steps toward di viding the visual scene into parts and wholes.