The perception and recognition of complex figures

Abstract

Although simple, novel figures seen only once establish relatively enduring memories, certain nuances of more complex figures do not seem to establish adequate traces at all. Experiments demonstrated that those features of a figure which are immaterial to its over-all, global shape are typically not recognized even immediately afterward; whereas those same features exposed in isolation under the same conditions and for the same period of time are recognized. It was concluded that, by and large, these features are not perceived, at least in the sense of being cognitively apprehended. Therefore, they fail to establish memories.