%0 Journal Article
%T Similarity Grouping as Feature
%A Dian Yu
%A Douglas K. Bemis
%A Steven L. Franconeri
%A Xiao Xiao
%J Psychological Science
%@ 1467-9280
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0956797618822798
%X Across the natural world as well as the artificial worlds of maps, diagrams, and data visualizations, feature similarity (e.g., color and shape) links spatially separate areas into sets. Despite a century of study, it is yet unclear what mechanism underlies this gestalt similarity grouping. One recent proposal is that similarity grouping¡ªfor example, seeing a red, vertical, or square group¡ªis just global selection of those features. Although parsimonious, this account makes the counterintuitive prediction that similarity grouping is strictly serial: A green group cannot be constructed at the same time as a red group. We tested this prediction with a novel measure¡ªa grouping illusion within number-estimation tasks that should work only if participants simultaneously construct groups¡ªand found the strongest evidence yet in favor of serial feature-based attention (Ns = 14, 12, and 12 for Experiment 1, Experiment 2, and Experiment 3, respectively)
%K grouping
%K perceptual organization
%K visual attention
%K feature-based selection
%K number estimation
%K open data
%K open materials
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797618822798