Testing a Queue Hypothesis for the Processing of Global and Local Information

To test whether the advantage for global features in visual perception is stationary throughout the course of processing or is superseded by a local advantage, 6 experiments were conducted in which subjects responded to auditorially presented letter names, while viewing compound visual stimuli. The consistencies of the 2 levels of the compound letters with the auditory stimuli were varied. The requirement with respect to the visual stimulus was manipulated between experiments. The onset asynchrony (SOA) between the visual stimulus and the auditory one was randomized within blocks. Interaction of SOA with consistency of either of the globality levels with the auditory stimulus would indicate lack of stationarity. No such indication was found. Several findings suggest global advantage. The results hold across 3 exposure durations. Findings support the hypothesis of global precedence as well as the claim that it is stationary.