Studying perceptual bias in favor of the from-above Necker cube perspective in a goal-directed behavior

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Vadim Grubov¹  Alexander Kuc¹  Vladimir Maksimenko²  Artem Badarin³  Alexander Hramov⁴  Andrey Savosenkov⁵  Victor Kazantsev⁵  Nikita Grigorev⁵  Susanna Gordleeva⁵ 

[1] Baltic Center for Neurotechnology and Artificial Intelligence, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia;Baltic Center for Neurotechnology and Artificial Intelligence, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia;Center for Technologies in Robotics and Mechatronics Components, Innopolis University, Innopolis, Russia;Neurodynamics and Cognitive Technology Laboratory, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia;Baltic Center for Neurotechnology and Artificial Intelligence, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia;Neurodynamics and Cognitive Technology Laboratory, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia;Baltic Center for Neurotechnology and Artificial Intelligence, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia;Neurodynamics and Cognitive Technology Laboratory, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia;Neuroscience Research Institute, Samara State Medical University, Samara, Russia;Neurodynamics and Cognitive Technology Laboratory, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia;

关键词: ambiguous images;    Necker cube;    perceptual bias;    top-down processing;    bottom-up processing;    EEG;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1160605

 received in 2023-02-07, accepted in 2023-08-28,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

When viewing a completely ambiguous image, different interpretations can switch involuntarily due to internal top-down processing. In the case of the Necker cube, an entirely ambiguous stimulus, observers often display a bias in perceptual switching between two interpretations based on their perspectives: one with a from-above perspective (FA) and the other with a from-below perspective (FB). Typically, observers exhibit a priori top-down bias in favor of the FA interpretation, which may stem from a statistical tendency in everyday life where we more frequently observe objects from above. However, it remains unclear whether this perceptual bias persists when individuals voluntarily decide on the Necker cube's interpretation in goal-directed behavior, and the impact of ambiguity in this context is not well-understood. In our study, we instructed observers to voluntarily identify the orientation of a Necker cube while manipulating its ambiguity from low (LA) to high (HA). Our investigation aimed to test two hypotheses: (i) whether the perspective (FA or FB) would result in a bias in response time, and (ii) whether this bias would depend on the level of stimulus ambiguity. Additionally, we analyzed electroencephalogram (EEG) signals to identify potential biomarkers that could explain the observed perceptual bias. The behavioral results confirmed a perceptual bias in favor of the from-above perspective, as indicated by shorter response times. However, this bias diminished for stimuli with high ambiguity. For the LA stimuli, the occipital theta-band power consistently exceeded the frontal theta-band power throughout most of the decision-making time. In contrast, for the HA stimuli, the frontal theta-band power started to exceed the occipital theta-band power during the 0.3-s period preceding the decision. We propose that occipital theta-band power reflects evidence accumulation, while frontal theta-band power reflects its evaluation and decision-making processes. For the FB perspective, occipital theta-band power exhibited higher values and dominated over a longer duration, leading to an overall increase in response time. These results suggest that more information and more time are needed to encode stimuli with a FB perspective, as this template is less common for the observers compared to the template for a cube with a FA perspective.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Kuc, Maksimenko, Savosenkov, Grigorev, Grubov, Badarin, Kazantsev, Gordleeva and Hramov.