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When we observe an object, we are not actually seeing an object but only a mediator, i.e. light striking our retinas. Stunningly, the output of the retinal receptors is like a “snowstorm of swirling, multicolored confetti” (Palmer, 1999). However, the world we consciously perceive consisted of structured scenes populated with people, houses, trees and other meaningful things. Why do we perceive objects and scenes instead of confetti? Perceptual organization is the architecture studio of our vision in charge of determining what does and does not with what in the retinal mosaic to build a tidy visual experience. We make use of an interdisciplinary combination of different research methods and measures to study the cognitive mechanisms and the neural basis of perceptual organization in the human visual system. Our starting point is a collection of robust experimental paradigms and psychophysical techniques, which are combined with electrophysiological measures and source localization analyses with the aim of exploring the cognitive processes and the neural substrates of scene and object perception.
Research interests
The most important current topics of our interest are (1) the competition between different grouping cues, (2) the neural correlates underlying intrinsic and extrinsic grouping principles, (3) the (un)concious processing of grouped patterns and illusory contours, (4) the mutual interplay between perceptual organization and attention, (5) the hierarchical relations between global and local levels of stimuli and, in a more applied line, (6) aesthetic judgments in modern painting and the role of Gestalt formation.
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Publications
Jimenez, M., Prieto, A., Hinojosa, J. A., & Montoro, P. R. (2024). Consciousness under the spotlight: the problem of measuring subjective experience. PsyArXiv.
González-Espinar, J., Ortells, J. J., Sánchez-García, L., Montoro, P. R., & Hutchison, K. (2023). Exposure to natural environments consistently improves visuospatial working memory performance. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 91, 102138.
Grubert, A., McGonigal, D., & Jimenez, M. (2023). Visual versus verbal attentional templates guiding visual search. Journal of Vision, 23(9), 5387-5387.
Hinojosa, J. A., Guasch, M., Montoro, P. R., Albert, J., Fraga, I., & Ferré, P. (2023). The bright side of words: Norms for 9000 Spanish words in seven discrete positive emotions. Behavior Research Methods, 1-21.
Jimenez, M., Prieto, A., Gomez, P., Hinojosa, J. A., & Montoro, P. R. (2023). Masked priming under the Bayesian microscope: Exploring the integration of local elements into global shape through Bayesian model comparison. Consciousness and Cognition, 115, 103568.
Mayas, J., Prieto, A., & Montoro, P. R. (2023). Memory and metamemory in everyday settings: Assessing recall, recognition, and naming using car brand logos. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 1–14.
Rodán, A., Romero, M., Casadevante, C., Santacreu, J., Montoro, P. R., & Contreras, M. J. (2023). Getting it right takes time: response time and performance in secondary school students. The Journal of General Psychology, 1-17.
Coles, N. A., March, D. S., Marmolejo-Ramos, F., Larsen, J. T., Arinze, N. C., Ndukaihe, I. L., ... & Liuzza, M. T. (2022). A multi-lab test of the facial feedback hypothesis by the Many Smiles Collaboration. Nature human behaviour, 6(12), 1731-1742.
Mediano, M., Montoro, P. R., Contreras, M. J., & Mayas, J. (2022). Assessment of a Spanish version of the Mannheim Dream questionnaire (MADRE) in a young adult Spanish sample. International Journal of Dream Research, 184-197.
Montoro, P. R., & Ruiz, M. (2022). Incidental visual memory and metamemory for a famous monument. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 84(3), 771-780.
Jimenez, M., Poch, C., Villalba-García, C., Sabater, L., Hinojosa, J. A., Montoro, P. R., & Koivisto, M. (2021). The level of processing modulates visual awareness: evidence from behavioral and electrophysiological measures. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 33(7), 1295-1310.
Villalba-García, C., Jimenez, M., Luna, D., Hinojosa, J. A., & Montoro, P. R. (2021). Competition between perceptual grouping cues in an indirect objective task. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(10), 1724-1736.
Carriedo, N., Corral, A., Montoro, P. R., & Herrero, L. (2020). A developmental study of the bat/ball problem of CRT: How to override the bias and its relation to executive functioning. British Journal of Psychology, 111(2), 335-356.
Contreras, M. J., Meneghetti, C., Uttal, D. H., Fernández-Méndez, L. M., Rodán, A., & Montoro, P. R. (2020). Monitoring the own spatial thinking in second grade of primary education in a Spanish school: Preliminary study analyzing gender differences. Education Sciences, 10(9), 237.
Jimenez, M., Hinojosa, J. A., & Montoro, P. R. (2020). Visual awareness and the levels of processing hypothesis: a critical review. Consciousness and Cognition, 85, 103022.
Jimenez, M., Villalba-García, C., Luna, D., Hinojosa, J. A., & Montoro, P. R. (2019). The nature of visual awareness at stimulus energy and feature levels: A backward masking study. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81, 1926-1943.
Rodán, A., Gimeno, P., Elosúa, M. R., Montoro, P. R., & Contreras, M. J. (2019). Boys and girls gain in spatial, but not in mathematical ability after mental rotation training in primary education. Learning and Individual Differences, 70, 1-11.
Villalba-García, C., Santaniello, G., Luna, D., Montoro, P. R., & Hinojosa, J. A. (2018). Temporal brain dynamics of the competition between proximity and shape similarity grouping cues in vision. Neuropsychologia, 121, 88-97.
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