Abstract

Three experiments examined whether illusory propositional conjunctions (Virzi & Egeth, 1984) are perceptual or post-perceptual phenomena. Experiment 1, using a recall task, demonstrated that illusory propositional conjunctions are observed along with illusory perceptual conjunctions. Using a successive and a simultaneous matching task, Experiment 2 & 3 examined whether illusory propositional conjunctions are dependent on verbal labeling and on memory failure (cf., Treisman & Schmidt, 1982). Illusory propositional conjunctions disappeared but illusory perceptual conjunctions were still observed in both successive and simultaneous matching tasks. These results suggest that contrary to what Virzi & Egeth (1984) claimed, illusory conjunctions occur only with perceptual features.