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The role of action representations in visual object recognition

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Abstract

It is typically assumed that perception for action and object recognition are subserved by functionally and neuroanatomically distinct processing streams in the brain. However, recent evidence challenges this classical view and suggests an interaction between both visual processing streams. While previous studies showed an influence of object perception on action-related tasks, we investigated whether action representations facilitate visual object recognition. In order to address this question, two briefly displayed masked objects were sequentially presented, either affording congruent or incongruent motor interactions. We found superior naming accuracy for object pairs with congruent as compared to incongruent motor interactions (Experiment 1). This action priming effect indicates that action representations can facilitate object recognition. We further investigated the nature of the representations underlying this action priming effect. The effect was absent when the prime stimulus was presented as a word (Experiment 2). Thus, the action priming effect seems to rely on action representations specified by visual object information. Our findings suggest that processes of object-directed action influence object recognition.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Max Planck Society, the European Commission (IST 2000-29375 COGVIS), and by the German Research Community (DFG Ki 803/1-1 and 803/1-3).

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Author notes

  1. Markus Graf

    Present address: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Amalienstr. 33, 80799, Munich, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Spemannstr. 38, 72076, Tubingen, Germany

    Hannah Barbara Helbig & Markus Graf

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Ulm, Leimgrubenweg 12-14, 89075, Ulm, Germany

    Markus Kiefer

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  1. Hannah Barbara Helbig
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  2. Markus Graf
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  3. Markus Kiefer
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Correspondence to Hannah Barbara Helbig.

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Helbig, H.B., Graf, M. & Kiefer, M. The role of action representations in visual object recognition. Exp Brain Res 174, 221–228 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0443-5

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