ORCID
- Andy J. Wills: 0000-0003-4803-0367
Abstract
Integral stimuli (e.g., colors varying in saturation and brightness) are classically considered to be processed holistically (i.e., as undifferentiated stimulus wholes); people analyze such stimuli into their consistent dimensions only with substantial time, effort, training, or instruction (Foard & Kemler, 1984). In contrast, Combination Theory (Wills et al., 2015) argues that the dimensions of integral stimuli are quickly combined. Through an investigation of the effects of stimulus presentation time, we support Combination Theory over the classical holistic-to-analytic account. Specifically, using colored squares varying in saturation and brightness, we demonstrate that the prevalence of single-dimension classification increases as stimulus presentation time is reduced. We conclude that integral stimuli are not slowly analyzed, they are quickly synthesized.
DOI Link
Publication Date
2025-05-23
Publication Title
Open Mind
Volume
9
Acceptance Date
2025-04-11
Deposit Date
2025-08-07
Additional Links
Keywords
analytic, categorization, Combination Theory, Differentiation Theory, holistic, integral, separable
First Page
746
Last Page
761
Recommended Citation
Edmunds, C., Milton, F., & Wills, A. (2025) 'The Rapid Synthesis of Integral Stimuli', Open Mind, 9, pp. 746-761. Available at: 10.1162/opmi_a_00208
