2. What is ‘feature integration theory’? How well does it account for the processing of features in our visual environment and their perceptual integration? Do you think that this framework could be applied usefully to sensory modalities other than vision?

Key Points:

• Answer should consider evolution and significance of feature integration theory, as advanced by Treisman and colleagues.
• A consideration of the Treisman visual search tasks should be presented.
• A discussion should be presented which considers the significance for contemporary perceptual theory of the empirical dissociation that has been observed between simple feature search and conjoined feature search.
• The student should also present a reasoned consideration of the extent to which the findings obtained from the simple and conjoined feature search tasks (and the theoretical framework derived from these findings) offer a significant insight into the way in which we process objects in the ‘natural’ environment. For example, which ‘features’ does the student think are relevant for the processing of common (well-known?) and less common (unknown?) objects in the natural world?
• Extra credit received for a well-argued consideration of the extent to which feature integration theory might be applicable to sensory modalities other than vision, in which there may be sequential (rather than simultaneous) presentation of ‘features’ (for example, in the auditory system).