FLEXIBLE, DIAGNOSTICITY-DRIVEN, RATHER THAN FIXED, PERCEPTUALLY DETERMINED SCALE SELECTION IN SCENE AND FACE RECOGNITION

Different classifications of an identical visual stimulus may require different perceptual properties from the visual input. How do processe s of object and scene categorisation use the information associated wi th different perceptual spatial scales? One scenario suggests that rec ognition should use coarse blobs before fine-scale edges because scale usage is perceptually determined. However, perceptual determination n eglects one important aspect of any recognition task: the information demands of the considered classification of the input. Evidence is rev iewed suggesting that scale usage could be flexibly determined by the diagnosticity of scale-specific cues for different categorisations of scenes and faces.