Degree Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2004
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Psychology
Major
Neuroscience
First Advisor
Eric E. Cooper
Second Advisor
Veronica J. Dark
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation was to describe and test a framework (the coordinate relations hypothesis) for understanding the types of shape representations and recognition tasks that are mediated in dissociable neural subsystems. The results from Experiment 1 demonstrate that there is a right hemisphere advantage for recognizing upright animals, but that inverting animals eliminates the right hemisphere advantage for basic-level animal recognition. The results of Experiment 2 showed that there is a right hemisphere advantage for physically discriminating objects that differ only in their metric properties but that there is not a right hemisphere advantage for objects that can be discriminated using a structural description. Experiment 3 tested whether showing the metric change objects at different orientations eliminates the right hemisphere advantage for the metric change trials. Experiment 4 was designed to investigate the effects of metric vs. geon changes in priming. Unfortunately, the results of Experiments 3 and 4 were inconclusive (possibly due to a lack of statistical power). Although the results of Experiments 3 and 4 were inconclusive, Experiments 1 and 2 provide strong evidence for the coordinate relations hypothesis and are inconsistent with other current hypotheses regarding the neural subsystems for visual recognition. The results thus suggest that one subsystem mediates structural description representations and subserves any recognition tasks that can be performed using a structural description and the other subsystem mediates coordinate relations representations, and mediates recognition tasks that require a coordinate relations representation.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.31274/rtd-180813-1652
Publisher
Digital Repository @ Iowa State University, http://lib.dr.iastate.edu
Copyright Owner
Brian Everett Brooks
Copyright Date
2004
Language
en
Proquest ID
AAI3105068
File Format
application/pdf
File Size
98 pages
Recommended Citation
Brooks, Brian Everett, "Are coordinate representations and structural descriptions mediated in neurologically dissociable visual recognition systems? " (2004). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 1425.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/1425
Included in
Biological Psychology Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons, Neurosciences Commons, Psychiatry and Psychology Commons
