The Foreground Bias: Initial Scene Representations Across the Depth Plane

Abstract

When you walk into a large room, you perceive visual information that is both close to you in depth and farther in the background. Here, we investigated how initial scene representations are affected by information across depth. We examined the role of background and foreground information on scene gist by using chimera scenes (images with a foreground and background from different scene categories). Across three experiments, we found a foreground bias: Information in the foreground initially had a strong influence on the interpretation of the scene. This bias persisted when the initial fixation position was on the scene background and when the task was changed to emphasize scene information. We concluded that the foreground bias arises from initial processing of scenes for understanding and suggests that scene information closer to the observer is initially prioritized. We discuss the implications for theories of scene and depth perception.

Scene Perception

“…Recent studies on scene processing have also shown qualitatively different processing of spaces closer to the observer (Bonner & Epstein, 2017, 2018Fernandes & Castelhano, 2021;Josephs & Konkle, 2019;Man et al, 2019). Most recently, Castelhano and Fernandes (2021) found a foreground bias when examining rapid scene perception for images that had mismatched scene categories in the foreground and background (i.e., chimera scenes). That is, foreground information (from the center of the total scene depth to the position of the observer within the scene) had a greater influence on initial scene perception than background information.…”

“…These findings reinforce the notion that scene information across depths is differently prioritized. Taken together, there is a consistent pattern of prioritization of information closer to an observere.g., the foreground bias (Fernandes & Castelhano, 2021) and it seems reasonable that the depth at which the information occurs would play a role when searching in a real environment. The role of information present in closer spatial proximity introduces an interesting framework from which to consider the nexus of scene processing, navigation, and action.…”

“…We can also see how all these processes interact when we go grocery shopping and have a list of items to collect around that space. Not only do you need to navigate to the correct area of the supermarket, but you also need to distinguish among different types of items when you get there and choose an item based on any number of discriminating factors (Castelhano & Heaven, 2010;Castelhano & Krzyś, 2020;Fernandes & Castelhano, 2021;Man et al, 2019). Another way to think about how we interact with scenes is not just within a single indoor space, but spaces as we explore different places.…”