Chapter 6 discusses Biederman's recognition-by-components theory of object recognition, and this website provides additional details (the site focuses on vision in birds, but the principles are exactly the same as those encountered in human object recognition).

Human faces are among the most conspicuous familar "objects" in our daily lives. And among the most bizarre neurological conditions is the loss of ability to recognize familiar faces consequent to brain damage to a specific region of the occipto-temporal lobe. This condition, known as prosopagnosia, can be explored here or here.

The question of whether there exists a brain area specialized for face perception has generated conflicting evidence and heated debate. Here are websites that provide references expressing different views on the question. View One (Nancy Kanwisher, Harvard University); view two (Isabel Gauthier, Vanderbilt University).

Here are some objects - Greebles -- you probably never saw before reading about them in Blake &Sekuler's textbook. They may strange at first, but with practice, you can learn to recognize individuals from this unusual "species." Take a look at this family of greebles and learn how these unusual creatures are contributing to understanding of object recognition.

Your attention cannot be focused at two different places at once. Consequently, you may fail to see normally conspicuous objects or events, such as a gorilla walking past you you. Sound incredible? Here are some demonstrations of inattentional blindness.