Visual perception of order-disorder transition

Crossmodal associations between visual textures and temperature concepts

Visual textures are critical in how individuals form sensory expectations about objects, which include somatosensory properties such as temperature. This study aimed to uncover crossmodal associations between visual textures and temperature concepts. In Experiment 1 (N = 193), we evaluated crossmodal associations between 43 visual texture categories and different temperature concepts (via temperature words such as cold and hot) using an explicit forced-choice test. The results revealed associations between striped, cracked, matted, and waffled visual textures and high temperatures and between crystalline and flecked visual textures and low temperatures. In Experiment 2 (N = 247), we conducted six implicit association tests (IATs) pairing the two visual textures most strongly associated with low (crystalline and flecked) and high (striped and cracked) temperatures with the words cold and hot as per the results of Experiment 1. When pairing the crystalline and striped visual textures, the results revealed that crystalline was matched to the word cold, and striped was matched to the word hot. However, some associations found in the explicit test were not found in the IATs. In Experiment 3 (N = 124), we investigated how mappings between visual textures and concrete entities may influence crossmodal associations with temperature and these visual textures. Altogether, we found a range of association strengths and automaticity levels. Importantly, we found evidence of relative effects. Furthermore, some of these crossmodal associations are partly influenced by indirect mappings to concrete entities.

1, 2, 3, Many—Perceptual Integration of Motif Repetitions

It is generally assumed that the initial integration of visual information is limited in its spatial extent. Of particular interest is the extent to which image symmetries are detected and integrated. Here we studied the spatial extent of visual integration in textures constructed from wallpaper symmetry groups. Using tools from statistical physics, we obtained images ranging from symmetric ones to completely random ones, whereas the textural elements were of the same quality. Results show that the psychometric curves for 3 × 3 motif repetitions are similar to those of images having more repetitions, whereas an equivalent physical scaling of the images does not alter the performance.