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Using EEG to Examine the Top Down Effects on Visual Object Processing

Borders, Joseph D.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1578867649537854

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, Human Factors and Industrial/Organizational Psychology MS.
Object recognition entails a complex interplay between top-down and bottom-up signals. Yet, limited research has investigated the mechanisms through which top-down processes, such as task context and behavioral goals impact the neural basis of visual object processing. Using electroencephalography (EEG), we studied the temporal dynamics of task and object processing to identify how early the impact of task can be observed. We recorded ERPs from participants as they viewed object images from four categories spanning animacy (Inanimate: roller-skate, motorbike; Animate: cow, butterfly) and size (Large: motorbike, cow; Small: roller-skate, butterfly) dimensions under four task conditions comprising conceptual (naturalness, size) and perceptual (color, tilt) dimensions. We did not find evidence of behavioral goals, as manipulated by the task context, modulating early visual object representations, as indexed by early visual ERPs (P1, N1, P2), in extrastriate cortex. Additional analyses revealed that task-related processing occurred predominately in later time windows (300-600ms) within frontoparietal regions. Irrespective of task, we also observed a variety of object category effects across early visual ERPs. These findings support previous neuroimaging results suggesting object representations in occipitotemporal cortex are organized based on their animacy and real-world size, and, importantly, these ERP results indicate these organizational principles can be observed in relatively early stages along the visual processing hierarchy. Taken together, this work adds to the body of psychological and neuroscientific research examining how and when top-down and bottom-up signals interact to form the basis of visual object processing, facilitating of high-level vision.
Assaf Harel, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Joseph W. Houpt, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Ion Juvina, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
91 p.
Cognitive Psychology; Neurosciences; Psychology
object recognition; categorization; visual cognition; perception; task influence

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Borders, J. D. (2019). Using EEG to Examine the Top Down Effects on Visual Object Processing [Master's thesis, Wright State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1578867649537854

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Borders, Joseph. Using EEG to Examine the Top Down Effects on Visual Object Processing. 2019. Wright State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1578867649537854.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Borders, Joseph. "Using EEG to Examine the Top Down Effects on Visual Object Processing." Master's thesis, Wright State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1578867649537854

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

wright1578867649537854
179
© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.