Abstract
We summarize five studies of our large-scale research program, in which we examined aspects of contour-based object identification and segmentation, and we report on the stimuli we used, the norms and data we collected, and the software tools we developed. The stimuli were outlines derived from the standard set of line drawings of everyday objects by Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980). We used contour curvature as a major variable in all the studies. The total number of 1,500 participants produced very solid, normative identification rates of silhouettes and contours, straight-line versions, and fragmented versions, and quite reliable benchmark data about saliency of points and object segmentation into parts. We also developed several software tools to generate stimuli and to analyze the data in nonstandard ways. Our stimuli, norms and data, and software tools have great potential for further exploration of factors influencing contour-based object identification, and are also useful for researchers in many different disciplines (including computer vision) on a wide variety of research topics (e.g., priming, agnosia, perceptual organization, and picture naming). The full set of norms, data, and stimuli may be downloaded fromwww.psychonomic.org/archive/.
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This research program is carried out with financial support of Grant OT/00/007 of the University of Leuven and Grant G.0189.02 of the Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders. A number of collaborators have contributed to parts of the studies reported here.
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De Winter, J., Wagemans, J. Contour-based object identification and segmentation: Stimuli, norms and data, and software tools. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 36, 604–624 (2004). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206541
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206541