Effect of Item Arrangement on Perceived Numerosity: Randomness vs Regularity

Ginsburg, Norman

doi:10.2466/pms.1976.43.2.663

Cited by 94 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…An example of the effect of spatial distribution on these judgments is the "regular-random illusion" reported by Ginsburg (1976). He found that human observers estimated a display of evenly spreadout dots to be more numerous than a random distribution of the same number of dots.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the third type of array, the items were more spread out. Their spacing was irregular, so that although the experimenters chose the item locations, the arrays resembled the "random" arrays that Ginsburg (1976) used, rather than his "regular" arrays. Since the parameters of the stimulus arrays were all specified in coding files, van Oeffelen and Vos's (1983) CODE algorithm could subsequently be applied to the stimuli.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scalar effects in the visual discrimination of numerosity by pigeons

Emmerton

Renner

2006

Learning & Behavior

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Pigeons trained in a conditional discrimination procedure to respond to a visual array made a left or right choice, depending on which of two numbers of elements (i.e., anchor numerosities) the array contained. They were then tested with novel arrays at these anchor numerosities, as well as at interpolated and extrapolated numerosities. Various control conditions showed that the birds' discrimination p performance was primarily based on stimulus numerosity, and not on other factors, such as brightness or area. Results from a series of tests, spanning a wide range of numerosities, conformed to scalar p principles. Psychometric functions showed superposition, indicating that Weber's law applies to numerosity discrimination. The subjective midpoint between anchor values was at the geometric mean. V Variability about this bisection point increased in proportion to the numerical value of the mean.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scalar effects in the visual discrimination of numerosity by pigeons

Emmerton

Renner

2006

Learning & Behavior

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“…The ANS can process numerosities presented or produced both serially and simultaneously (Cordes, Gelman, Gallistel, & Whalen, 2001;Meck & Church, 1983;Revkin et al, 2008;Taves, 1941). ANS estimations can be influenced by perceptual factors, such as regularity of spacing (Ginsburg, 1976(Ginsburg, , 1978Taves, 1941), perceived area (van Oeffelen & Vos, 1982Vos, van Oeffelen, Tibosch, & Allik, 1988), and item segmentation (Franconeri et al, 2009). While some claim that ANS estimations are based solely on continuous extent features, such as area and density (Mix, Huttenlocher, & Levine, 2002), other research indicates that the ANS can assess numerosity even when continuous extent is controlled (Cordes & Brannon, 2008;Hurewitz, Gelman, & Schnitzer, 2006).…”

Section: Visual Nesting Impacts Approximate Number System Estimationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual nesting impacts approximate number system estimation

Chesney

Gelman

2012

Atten Percept Psychophys

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The approximate number system (ANS) allows people to quickly but inaccurately enumerate large sets without counting. One popular account of the ANS is known as the accumulator model. This model posits that the ANS acts analogously to a graduated cylinder to which one "cup" is added for each item in the set, with set numerosity read from the "height" of the cylinder. Under this model, one would predict that if all the to-be-enumerated items were not collected into the accumulator, either the sets would be underestimated, or the misses would need to be corrected by a subsequent process, leading to longer reaction times. In this experiment, we tested whether such miss effects occur. Fifty participants judged numerosities of briefly presented sets of circles. In some conditions, circles were arranged such that some were inside others. This circle nesting was expected to increase the miss rate, since previous research had indicated that items in nested configurations cannot be preattentively individuated in parallel. Logically, items in a set that cannot be simultaneously individuated cannot be simultaneously added to an accumulator. Participants' response times were longer and their estimations were lower for sets whose configurations yielded greater levels of nesting. The level of nesting in a display influenced estimation independently of the total number of items present. This indicates that miss effects, predicted by the accumulator model, are indeed seen in ANS estimation. We speculate that ANS biases might, in turn, influence cognition and behavior, perhaps by influencing which kinds of sets are spontaneously counted.

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“…For example, objects occupying a more extended area on the display usually appear to contain more numerous elements (Bevan, Maier, & Helson, 1963;Binet, 1890;Ponzo, 1928). Many other configurations of dots have been found to increase or decrease in their apparent visual number, relative to the same number of randomly distributed dots (Frith & Frith, 1972;Ginsburg, 1976;Ginsburg & Goldstein, 1987; The authors thank Norman Ginsburg, Tarow Indow, and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier version of this article. The discussion of this research topic with Piet Vos has been very stimulating for many years.…”

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confidence: 99%