VISUAL AND TACTILE MEMORY FOR 2-D PATTERNS - EFFECTS OF CHANGES IN SIZE AND LEFT-RIGHT ORIENTATION

Visual identification of 3-D objects depends on representations that a re invariant across changes size and left-right orientation. We examin ed whether this finding reflects the unique demands of processing 3-D objects, or whether it generalizes to 2-D patterns and to the tactile modality. Our findings suggest that object representation for identifi cation is influenced greatly by the processing demands of stimulus mat erials (e.g., 2-D vs. 3-D objects) and stimulus modality (touch vs. vi sion). Identification of 2-D patterns in vision is adversely affected by left-right orientation changes, but not size changes. Identificatio n of the same patterns in touch is adversely affected by both changes. Together, the results suggest that the unique processing demands of s timulus materials and modality shape the representation of objects in memory.