ABSTRACT
Psychologists, and philosophers before them, have recognized that objects can be characterized by either holistic or featural properties. Indeed, a long-standing debate concerns which set of properties takes precedence over the other in perception. Although the debate persists in contemporary theory (e.g., Lockhead, 1972, 1979; Treisman & Gelade, 1980), there is little doubt that the adult perceiver gains easy access to either property in many sets of multidimensional objects.
