Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Perception of our external environment is not isolated from the influence of our internal thoughts, and past evidence points to a possible common associative mechanism underlying both the perception of scenes and our internal thought. Here, we investigated the nature of the interaction between an associative mindset and scene perception, hypothesizing a functional advantage to an associative thought pattern in the perception of scenes. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that associative thinking facilitates scene perception, which evolved over the course of the experiments. In contrast to scene perception, Experiment 3 showed that associative thinking hinders the perception of mundane objects, in which associative information is minimized. Nevertheless, object perception was facilitated when associative thinking was reduced. This double dissociation suggests that an associative mind is more receptive of externally perceived associative information, and that a match between the orientation of internal and external processing may be key for perception.
Source: Consciousness and Cognition
Authors: Shira Baror, Moshe Bar, Elissa Aminoff
Institutions: Bar-Ilan University, New York University, Fordham University
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,000
Award: G3886892222
OpenAlex ID: W4285082652