@inproceedings{af980347cb3b46f4bf331b6eb78198b7,
title = "Thinking for Seeing: Enculturation of Visual-Referential Expertise as Demonstrated by Photo-Triggered Perceptual Reorganization of Two-Tone “Mooney” Images",
abstract = "Two-tones (”Mooney”-esque transformations of grayscale photographs) can be difficult to recognize. However, after viewing the photographs from which two-tones were created, adults experience rapid “perceptual reorganization,” and the two-tones become immediately recognizable. In contrast to the effortless post-cue recognition seen in adults, preschool-aged children are generally unable to recognize two-tone images even when the photograph is simultaneously available. While simple instructional and perceptual interventions were ineffective, a cognitive intervention in which children were convinced that the photo and two-tone images were transformations of the same physical object improved children{\textquoteright}s recognition. We found a similar deficit in recognition in adults from a hunter-gatherer tribe (Pirah{\~a}) with a sparse visual symbolic culture and limited exposure to modern visual media. Photo-triggered perceptual reorganization of two-tone images may therefore be a product of prolonged enculturation, reflecting visual-referential expertise. As we gain skill in representing visual correspondences, one of the surprising consequences may be the ability to literally see things we couldn{\textquoteright}t see before.",
keywords = "culture, development, expertise, perception, perceptual reorganization, recognition, referential, symbolic understanding, top-down effects, vision",
author = "Yoon, {Jennifer M.D.} and Nathan Witthoft and Jonathan Winawer and Frank, {Michael C.} and Edward Gibson and Markman, {Ellen M.}",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} CogSci 2011.; 33rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Expanding the Space of Cognitive Science, CogSci 2011 ; Conference date: 20-07-2011 Through 23-07-2011",
year = "2011",
language = "English (US)",
series = "Expanding the Space of Cognitive Science - Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2011",
publisher = "The Cognitive Science Society",
pages = "2896--2901",
editor = "Laura Carlson and Christoph Hoelscher and Shipley, {Thomas F.}",
booktitle = "Expanding the Space of Cognitive Science - Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2011",
}