Navon figure

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A Navon figure is made of a larger recognisable shape, such as a letter, composed of copies of a smaller different shape. Navon figures are used in tests of visual neglect. [1] David Navon's research demonstrated that global features are perceived more quickly than local features. [2] Jules Davidoff also performed research, but in a remote culture, finding opposite results; the participants more readily identified the local features. [3] Patients with simultanagnosia have difficulty identifying global features, and when presented with a Navon figure will identify only the local features. [4] A 2010 study comparing global-local processing in different races, [5] found that East Asians demonstrated significantly stronger global processing than Caucasians.

Contents

Example

A letter T (global) composed of repeat copies of the letter S (local).

 SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS  SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS  SS        SSSSS        SS            SSSSS            SSSSS            SSSSS            SSSSS            SSSSS            SSSSS           SSSSSSS        SSSSSSSSSSSSS 

The Navon effect

Reading Navon figures has been found to affect a range of tasks. It has been shown that just 5 minutes reading out the small letters of Navon figures has a detrimental effect on face recognition. [6] [7] The size of the Navon effect has been found to be influenced by the properties of the image. [8] The effect is short lived (lasting less than a couple of minutes). [9]

The Navon effects has also been found in other tasks such as golf putting where reading the small Navon letters leads to poorer putting performance. [10]

See also

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References

  1. Assessing Attention in Unilateral Neglect [ permanent dead link ]
  2. Navon, 1977 cited in (1)
  3. Davidoff, J.; E. Fonteneau; J. Fagot (Sep 2008). "Local and global processing: Observations from a remote culture". Cognition. 108 (3): 702–709. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.06.004. PMID   18662813.
  4. Simultanagnosia, 2009
  5. McKone, E.; Davies, A.A.; Fernando, D.; Aalders, R.; Leung, H.; Wickramariyaratne, T.; Platow, M.J. (July 2010). "Asia has the global advantage: Race and visual attention". Vision Research. 50 (16): 1540–1549. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2010.05.010 . PMID   20488198.
  6. Macrae, C. N.; Lewis, H. L. (2002). "Do I know you? Processing orientation and face recognition". Psychological Science. 13 (2): 194–196. doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00436. PMID   11934008.
  7. Perfect, Timothy J. (2003-10-01). "Local processing bias impairs lineup performance". Psychological Reports. 93 (2): 393–394. doi:10.2466/pr0.2003.93.2.393. ISSN   0033-2941. PMID   14650660.
  8. Perfect, Timothy J.; Weston, Nicola J.; Dennis, Ian; Snell, Amelia (2008-10-01). "The effects of precedence on Navon-induced processing bias in face recognition". The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 61 (10): 1479–1486. doi:10.1080/17470210802034678. ISSN   1747-0218. PMID   18609403.
  9. Hills, Peter J.; Lewis, Michael B. (2007-04-01). "Temporal limitation of navon effect on face recognition". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 104 (2): 501–509. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.606.8985 . doi:10.2466/pms.104.2.501-509. ISSN   0031-5125. PMID   17566440.
  10. Lewis, Michael B.; Dawkins, Gemma (2014-08-08). "Local Navon letter processing affects skilled behavior: A golf-putting experiment" (PDF). Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 22 (2): 420–428. doi:10.3758/s13423-014-0702-6. ISSN   1069-9384.