Object Orientation and Contextual Material: Their Respective Roles in Visual Processing

Object orientation and scene context are two critical factors in the object recognition process. Typically, Recognition efficiency may decline when viewing an object from a 180° angle (e.g., the rear view of a tiger’s tail) compared to a 0° angle (e.g., the front view of a tiger’s head). However, this effect can be alleviated when the object is presented within a meaningful contextual background. In this study, we investigate whether contextual material information, frequently associated with specific objects in scenes, moderates the effect of object orientation. In Experiment 1a, we validated the selected stimulus set by analyzing differences in object categories and orientations. Overall, response times were significantly faster for animal categories than furniture categories, with object orientation also influencing response times. In Experiment 1b, we examined the interaction between contextual material information and object orientation. Compared to inconsistent background combinations, object recognition became less sensitive to certain orientations or increasingly uniform when consistent contextual material information was provided. Furthermore, the effect of contextual material persisted across different object orientations. Importantly, our findings indicate that even in the absence of explicit spatial structure and global scene information, contextual material background can influence object processing, facilitating object recognition at various orientations.