Novel scene understanding, from gist to elaboration

ABSTRACT We examined the cognitive experience of novel pictorial scenes, using observers’ words. On each of two critical trials, a single novel scene (a photo) was presented briefly, after which observers described what they saw. The reports were highly valid, assessed against details of the stimuli. The most frequent concepts used by the observers defined scene gist empirically – there was wide agreement on the basic scene interpretation. The average extent of the reports, or cognitive bandwidth, was fairly high overall: a median of 14.4 correct meaningful words per scene. However, there was a wide range of report lengths across observers. With length, the reports became increasingly elaborative and unique (and still correct). The longer reports document the richer and more unique side of a gist-to-elaboration continuum. In addition, a manipulation of immediately prior experience (priming with other scenes) caused an increase in the reporting of prime-related information, conveyed by a wide range of concepts, including relational concepts. The results are consistent with cognitive theories of perception and the claim of substantial cognitive bandwidth. Furthermore, the highly elaborative reports document a measured diversity of powerful scene understanding.