A RESTRICTED SPOTLIGHT OF ATTENTION IN VISUAL OBJECT RECOGNITION

We describe a patient (NJ), with a progressive visual disturbance, who showed an impairment in identifying larger visually-presented objects relative to their smaller counterparts. NJ showed this size effect fo r line drawings of objects, words and single letters. When presented w ith large letters comprised of smaller letters and asked to give speed ed identification responses to either the large or small letters, NJ w as grossly impaired at identifying the large letter. Additionally, whe n presented with a context meant to bias responding to either the larg e or small letter, NJ showed faster and more accurate responding in th e small direction, but not in the large direction. We interpret these results as indicative of an impaired 'spotlight' of attention, which i s deployed across the visual array, and is necessary for providing the selective visual attention responsible for the integration of visual features. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.