Grasp representations depend on knowledge and attention.

Abstract

Seeing pictures of objects activates the motor cortex and can have an influence on subsequent grasping actions. However, the exact nature of the motor representations evoked by these pictures is unclear. For example, action plans engaged by pictures could be most affected by direct visual input and computed online based on object shape. Alternatively, action plans could be influenced by experience seeing and grasping these objects. We provide evidence for a dual-route theory of action representations evoked by pictures of objects, suggesting that these representations are influenced by both direct visual input and stored knowledge. We find that that familiarity with objects has a facilitative effect on grasping actions, with knowledge about the object's canonical orientation or its name speeding grasping actions for familiar objects compared to novel objects. Furthermore, the strength of contributions from each route to action can be modulated by the manner in which the objects are attended. Thus, evocation of grasping representations depends on an interaction between one's familiarity with perceived objects and how those objects are attended while making grasp actions. (PsycINFO Database Record

Improving Debt Literacy by 2/3 Through Four Simple Infographics Requires Numeracy and Not Focusing on Negatives of Debt

“…When the structure of infographics was recognized and the participants understood that the text was the same on both sides of the infographics, they paid less attention to the rest of the infographics without losing significant educational information. This interpretation supports the observed tendency to give more attention to messages not seen by participants before (Chua et al, 2018).…”

Novel and familiar object recognition rely on the same ability.

“…A similar effect is found for individually famous objects for which we have a rich semantic network (e.g., Eiffel Tower; Anaki & Bentin, 2009). Object recognition judgments are also influenced by semantic knowledge that we acquire for familiar categories (Gilbert et al, 2006; Lupyan, 2008; Richler et al, 2011) or by the knowledge of how to manipulate some objects (Chua et al, 2018; Herbort & Butz, 2011; Yoon et al, 2002). New semantic information associated with objects influences the relative hemispheric contribution to perceptual judgments (Curby et al, 2004).…”

Semantically Meaningful View Selection

“…It can also indirectly impact other important tasks, such as robotic grasping [4], [5]. The way people grasp objects depends on not only the form and shape of the object, but also on their semantic understanding of the object [6]. Knowledge of manipulated objects is especially important for human robot collaboration [7], where robot behavior should be safe and adapt to human requirements [8].…”