While objects are fundamental units of vision that convey meaning, how different types of semantic knowledge affect perception is not fully understood. In contrast, the concept literature divides semantic information into taxonomic and thematic types. Taxonomic relationships reflect categorization by similarities (e.g., dog – wolf); thematic groups are based on complementary relationships shared within a common event (e.g., swimsuit – goggles; pool). A critical difference between these two information types is that thematic relationships are learned from the experienced co-occurrence of objects whereas taxonomic relationships are learned abstractly. In two studies, we test the hypothesis that visual processing of thematically related objects is more rapid because they serve as mutual visual primes and form a perceptual unit. The results demonstrate that learned co-occurrence not only shapes semantic knowledge, but also affects low level visual processing, revealing a link between how information is acquired (e.g., experienced vs. unobserved) and how it modulates perception.
NR5A Nuclear Receptor Hr39 Controls Three-Cell Secretory Unit Formation in Drosophila Female Reproductive Glands
