Inversion effects in the expert classification of mammograms and faces

Abstract A hallmark of a perceptual expert is the ability to detect and categorize stimuli in their domain of expertise after brief exposure. For example, expert radiologists can differentiate between “abnormal” and “normal” mammograms after a 250 ms exposure. It has been speculated that rapid detec...

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Main Authors: Michael D. Chin, Karla K. Evans, Jeremy M. Wolfe, Jonathan Bowen, James W. Tanaka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2018-08-01
Series:Cognitive Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41235-018-0123-6
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author Michael D. Chin
Karla K. Evans
Jeremy M. Wolfe
Jonathan Bowen
James W. Tanaka
author_facet Michael D. Chin
Karla K. Evans
Jeremy M. Wolfe
Jonathan Bowen
James W. Tanaka
author_sort Michael D. Chin
collection DOAJ
description Abstract A hallmark of a perceptual expert is the ability to detect and categorize stimuli in their domain of expertise after brief exposure. For example, expert radiologists can differentiate between “abnormal” and “normal” mammograms after a 250 ms exposure. It has been speculated that rapid detection depends on a global analysis referred to as holistic perception. Holistic processing in radiology seems similar to holistic perception in which a stimulus like a face is perceived as an integrated whole, not in terms of its individual features. Holistic processing is typically subject to inversion effects in which the inverted image is harder to process/recognize. Is radiological perception similarly subject to inversion effects? Eleven experienced radiologists (>  5 years of radiological experience) and ten resident radiologists (< 5 years of radiological experience) judged upright and inverted bilateral mammograms as “normal” or “abnormal”. For comparison, the same participants judged whether upright and inverted faces were “happy” or “neutral”. We obtained the expected inversion effect for faces. Expression discrimination was superior for upright faces. For mammograms, experienced radiologists exhibited a similar inversion effect, showing higher accuracy for upright than for inverted mammograms. Less experienced radiology residents performed more poorly than experienced radiologists and demonstrated no inversion effect with mammograms. These results suggest that the ability to discriminate normal from abnormal mammograms is a form of learned, holistic processing.
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spelling doaj.art-fdfe0cbb793f469d8e31e0a580dd615a2022-12-21T22:54:01ZengSpringerOpenCognitive Research2365-74642018-08-01311910.1186/s41235-018-0123-6Inversion effects in the expert classification of mammograms and facesMichael D. Chin0Karla K. Evans1Jeremy M. Wolfe2Jonathan Bowen3James W. Tanaka4Department of Psychology, University of VictoriaUniversity of YorkHarvard Medical SchoolDepartment of Psychology, University of VictoriaDepartment of Psychology, University of VictoriaAbstract A hallmark of a perceptual expert is the ability to detect and categorize stimuli in their domain of expertise after brief exposure. For example, expert radiologists can differentiate between “abnormal” and “normal” mammograms after a 250 ms exposure. It has been speculated that rapid detection depends on a global analysis referred to as holistic perception. Holistic processing in radiology seems similar to holistic perception in which a stimulus like a face is perceived as an integrated whole, not in terms of its individual features. Holistic processing is typically subject to inversion effects in which the inverted image is harder to process/recognize. Is radiological perception similarly subject to inversion effects? Eleven experienced radiologists (>  5 years of radiological experience) and ten resident radiologists (< 5 years of radiological experience) judged upright and inverted bilateral mammograms as “normal” or “abnormal”. For comparison, the same participants judged whether upright and inverted faces were “happy” or “neutral”. We obtained the expected inversion effect for faces. Expression discrimination was superior for upright faces. For mammograms, experienced radiologists exhibited a similar inversion effect, showing higher accuracy for upright than for inverted mammograms. Less experienced radiology residents performed more poorly than experienced radiologists and demonstrated no inversion effect with mammograms. These results suggest that the ability to discriminate normal from abnormal mammograms is a form of learned, holistic processing.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41235-018-0123-6HolisticPerceptual expertiseRadiologyInversion
spellingShingle Michael D. Chin
Karla K. Evans
Jeremy M. Wolfe
Jonathan Bowen
James W. Tanaka
Inversion effects in the expert classification of mammograms and faces
Cognitive Research
Holistic
Perceptual expertise
Radiology
Inversion
title Inversion effects in the expert classification of mammograms and faces
title_full Inversion effects in the expert classification of mammograms and faces
title_fullStr Inversion effects in the expert classification of mammograms and faces
title_full_unstemmed Inversion effects in the expert classification of mammograms and faces
title_short Inversion effects in the expert classification of mammograms and faces
title_sort inversion effects in the expert classification of mammograms and faces
topic Holistic
Perceptual expertise
Radiology
Inversion
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41235-018-0123-6
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