Do perceivers contribute to object perception?
Abstract
In this paper, we argue that the contributions of perceivers to object perception can substantially affect what objects are represented in perceptual experience. To capture the scalar nature of these perceiver-contingent contributions, we discuss two grades of subject-dependency in object perception. The first grade, weak subject-dependency, concerns attentional changes to perceptual content like, for instance, when a perceiver is turning her head, plugging her ears, or her attention is primed for a particular cue. The second grade, strong subject-dependency, concerns generating perceptual objects whose existence depends upon their perceivers' sensory contributions. We offer evidence from the future-directed anticipation of perceptual experts and from the feature binding of synesthetes to exemplify this nonstandard, subject-dependent form of object perception. We conclude that strongly subject-dependent perceptual objects are more than mere material objects, but are rather a necessary combination of material objects with the contributions of a perceiving subject.