Showing papers on "Visual perception published in 1976"
TL;DR: The study of visual dominance provides a model situation in which chronometric and phenomenological techniques can be brought together to produce a more complete picture of the relation between information processing and awareness.
Abstract: In many situations, visual input tends to dominate other modalities in perceptual and memorial reports and in speeded responses. Visual dominance appears to be related to the relatively weak capacity of visual inputs to alert the organism to their occurrence. In response to this reduced alerting, subjects tend to keep their attention tuned to the visual modality. This bias works via prior entry to allow vision to control the mechanisms that subserve conscious reports. The study of visual dominance provides a model situation in which chronometric and phenomenological techniques can be brought together to produce a more complete picture of the relation between information processing and awareness. Process models of perceptual phenomena (Chase, 1973) usually emphasize the flow of information within and between such systems as visual and acoustic analyzers, short- and long-term memories, and decision and response systems. Most often, some form of mental chronometry (Posner, in press), such
1,007 citations
TL;DR: A complex vector analysis of the proximal motion pattern is accomplished at the initial stage of physiological signal recording and that it is a consequence of receptive field organization is indicated in terms of vector calculus.
Abstract: Perceptual organization during short tachistoscopic presentation of stimulus patterns formed by ten moving bright spots, representing a human body in walking, running, etc. was investigated. Exposure times were .1 sec to .5 sec. The results reveal that in all Ss the dot pattern is perceptually organized to a “gestalt”, a walking, running, etc., person at an exposure time of .2 sec. 40% of Ss perceived a human body in such motion at presentation times as short as 0.1 sec. Under the experimental conditions used the track length of the bright spots at the threshold of integration to a moving unit was of the size order 10′ visual angle. This result is regarded as indicating that a complex vector analysis of the proximal motion pattern is accomplished at the initial stage of physiological signal recording and that it is a consequence of receptive field organization. It is discussed in terms of vector calculus.
384 citations
TL;DR: Judged time was an inverse linear function of response uncertainty under the prospective paradigm, whereas no significant function was obtained under the retrospective paradigm.
Abstract: The subjects, 120 college students, sorted cards for 42 sec with instructions to process 0, 1, or 2 bits of information per card (response uncertainty) and then were asked to make an absolute judgement of the interval's duration. Half of the subjects knew this judgement would be required before the interval (prospective paradigm); half did not (retrospective paradigm). Judged time was an inverse linear function of response uncertainty under the prospective paradigm, whereas no significant function was obtained under the retrospective paradigm.
377 citations
TL;DR: The visual response properties of single neurons in the owl's visual Wulst suggest that this forebrain structure is an analog of the mammalian visual cortex.
Abstract: The visual response properties of single neurons in the owl's visual Wulst suggest that this forebrain structure is an analog of the mammalian visual cortex. Features in common with the cat and the monkey visual cortex include a precise topographic organization, a high degree of binocular interaction, and selectivity for orientation, direction of movement, and binocular disparity of straight-line contours.
314 citations
TL;DR: The time needed to prepare for the presentation of the test form increased linearly with the angular departure of the indicated orientation from a previously learned position, which suggests that, in accordance with instructions, subjects performed a mental rotation in preparing for the upcoming test shape.
Abstract: Subjects were required to discriminate previously learned "standard" versions of angular shapes from randomly perturbed "distractor" versions that varied in similarity to the standard. Advance information concerning the identity and the orientation of the test form was provided. Subjects were instructed to prepare for the presentation of the test form by mentally rotating an internal representation of the designated standard form (identity cue) into the designated orientation.The time needed to prepare for the presentation of the test form increased linearly with the angular departure of the indicated orientation from a previously learned position. This finding suggests that, in accordance with instructions, subjects performed a mental rotation in preparing for the upcoming test shape. Rate of preparation was not affected by the complexity of the standard form presented as the identity cue. DIscriminative departure of the test form presented as the identity cue. Discriminative reaction time was not affected by either test-form complexity or angular departure of the test form from the learned orientation. In addition, striking individual differences in the pattern of discriminative reaction times were found. The implications of these results for (a) the nature of the processes and representations underlying the mental rotation task and (b) the nature of visual comparison processes are discussed. Language: en
246 citations
TL;DR: The phenomenological theory outlines the basic logical organization of the visual control system of the fly and describes the neural network between the receptors and the flight muscles to perform two main computations on the visual input.
Abstract: Visual information processing in the nervous system of flies begins with a large array of photoreceptors, which transduce a light intensity pattern, and culminates in a behavioural response that depends on that pattern.In the previous paper we have given a quantitative description of visual control of flight orientation in the fly. This description can account for fixation, tracking and some instances of spontaneous pattern preference behaviour. The phenomenological theory outlines the basic logical organization of the visual control system of the fly. It requires the neural network between the receptors and the flight muscles to perform two main computations on the visual input. One computation extracts movement information (the term r(ψ)ψ b of the phenomenological equation). The other provides position information (the term D(ψ)).
245 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a dual-task paradigm was used to assess attentional processing demands during visual word recognition, and it was argued that the procedure estimates the attention demands of the memory access component of word recognition.
Abstract: A dual-task paradigm was used to assess attentional processing demands during visual word recognition. By manipulating the difficulty of each task, it is argued that the procedure estimates the attention demands of the memory-access component of word recognition. Specifically, the the complexity of the secondary task was varied from a simple reaction time task to a choice reaction time task, and the difficulty of a lexical decision (word vs. nonword) primary task was varied by manipulating word frequency. A comparison of the effect of secondary task complexity across levels of word frequency showed that the difference between the two secondary tasks was larger for low-frequency words than for high-frequency words. This result, supported by other characteristics of the data, suggests that the memory-access processing in one type of word recognition task does demand attention. Language: en
239 citations
178 citations
TL;DR: It was argued that the perceptibility of nonredundant features are enhanced when those features are aligned in a well-defined form class, and the view that familiarity operates directly on recognitive processes but indirectly on perceptual ones was discussed.
Abstract: The perceptibility of face, scrambled face, and single-feature stimuli was investigated in three experiments. Stimuli were presented tachistoscopically, followed by a visual noise mask and a forced-choice test of one of three features (eyes, nose, and mouth). In Experiment I, two processing strategies which have been proposed for word perception (involving expectancy and redundancy) were investigated for the stimuli employed here. In Experiments II and III, experimentally induced familiarity was studied for its effect on recognition and perception, and an immediate and delayed perceptual test was employed. Across all three experiments, perception of single-feature and face stimuli were consistently superior to scrambled faces; in Experiment III, differences between single features and faces were eliminated. The effects of perceptual expectancy, internal feature redundancy, familiarity, guessing biases, etc., were shown to be insufficient to account for the superiority of face to scrambled face stimuli. It was argued that the perceptibility of nonredundant features are enhanced when those features are aligned in a well-defined form class. The view that familiarity operates directly on recognitive processes but indirectly on perceptual ones was discussed.
172 citations
TL;DR: The complete pattern of results indicates that several factors including cerebral hemisphere specialization, stimulus codability, selective perceptual orientation, and selective cerebral hemisphere interference interact in systematic ways to produce overall visual laterality effects.
Abstract: Two experiments examined the effect of concurrently holding 0, 2, 4, or 6 nouns in memory on the recognition of visual stimuli briefly presented to the left or right visual fields. When stimuli to be visually recognized were complex visuospatial forms it was found that a relatively easy memroy load of 2 or 4 nouns improved visual recognition accuracy on right visual field (left-hemisphere) trials relative to the no-memory condition; however, a more difficult memory load of 6 nouns decreased visual recognition accuracy to a level slightly below the no-memory condition. There were no effects of concurrent verbal memroy on visual form recognition on left visual field (right-hemisphere) trials. When the stimuli to be visually recognized were words it was found that a relatively easy memroy load of 2 or 4 nouns improved visual recognition accuracy and a more difficult load of 6 nouns decreased visual recognition accuracy on both left and right visual field trials. The complete pattern of results indicates that several factors including cerebral hemisphere specialization, stimulus codability, selective perceptual orientation, and selective cerebral hemisphere interference interact in systematic ways to produce overall visual laterality effects. Language: en
151 citations
TL;DR: These experiments examined the way in which experienced musicians differed from non-musicians in their recognition of briefly exposed pitch notation, and investigated the nature of the abstract code for musicians.
Abstract: Music bears formal relations to language which suggest that perceptual processes in the two modes may also be similar. These experiments examined the way in which experienced musicians differed from non-musicians in their recognition of briefly exposed pitch notation. Experiments I and II together demonstrated that musicians are superior to non-musicians in their immediate written recall of stimuli containing more than three notes, but only when the stimulus is available to them for 150 ms or more. These results are accounted for well by a model proposed by Coltheart (1972) for letter perception under conditions of brief exposure. In this model, two coding processes act simultaneously on the stimulus, one a fast visual coding, and the other a slower, but more permanent abstract (or name) coding. In this case non-musicians appear to be lacking a second, abstract, coding which musicians possess. Experiments III and IV attempted to investigate the nature of the abstract code for musicians by presenting vario...
TL;DR: It was concluded that sound influences visual epistemic behavior even at birth, and infants were sensitive to the spatial property of sound.
Abstract: Four studies were conducted to investigate the relation between audition and vision in the human newborn. In all four studies visual activity was recorded with infrared corneal-reflection technqiues in 1- to 4-day-old infants. Study 1 concerned the effects of sound at midline on scanning in darkness and in a lit but formless field. In the dark compared to light, newborns maintained better eye control, centralized fixations, scanned with smaller eye movements, scanned less dispersely, and were wider-eyed. In a blank field, sound caused newborns to maintain better eye control, centralize fixations, scan with small eye movements, constrain fixations, and be wider-eyed than in silence. Sound had little effect on scanning in the dark beyond constraining fixations. Study 2 concerned the effects of sound at midline on scanning vertical and horizontal edges. Visual activity was different for the two visual stimuli. While viewing a vertical rather than a horizontal edge, newborns maintained better eye control and fixated closer to the position of the vertical edge. Newborns crossed the position of the horizontal edge when that edge was present. Sound affected scanning in general, centralizing fixations for newborns not already looking centrally, but sound did not affect the frequency of edge crossing. Study 3 concerned the effects of laterally presented sound on scanning spatially consonant or dissonant vertical bars. The major finding was that infants were sensitive to the spatial property of sound. Infants shifted fixations first toward and then gradually away from sound. Study 4 was an attempt to determine whether there is an effort constraint on the simultaneous functioning of auditory and visual systems. The effects of two differentially salient sounds on scanning two differentially salient visual stimuli were examined. Although the results appeared to support the idea of an effort constraint, the data were accounted for parsimoniously in terms of the spatial influence of sound of scanning. The data on visual activity were discussed in terms of the presence of inherent information-acquisition routines in the newborn. It was concluded that sound influences visual epistemic behavior even at birth.
TL;DR: The results suggest that inner spatial representation remains intact in most cases of spatial neglect and the role of parietal lobe damage in the development of this visually induced phenomenon is hypothesised.
Abstract: Patients with unilateral brain lesions were given a task requiring exploration of space with the hand in order to assess the visual dependency of unilateral spatial neglect. The task was carried out both without visual control and under visual control. Performances were compared with that of normal subjects. Results were :(1) patients with right brain damage with no visual field defect demonstrated left-sided neglect only when the exploration was not controlled visually; (2) patients with left and right brain damage with visual field defect demonstrated contralateral neglect only when the exploration was under visual guidance. The performance of the patients with right brain damage without visual field defect in not clearly understood. The other results suggest that inner spatial representation remains intact in most cases of spatial neglect. The role of parietal lobe damage in the development of this visually induced phenomenon is hypothesised. The dominant position of vision among the senses is indicated.
TL;DR: In this article, two experiments were conducted in which distance estimations were made to single binocular dots viewed through a polarization stereoscope and the experimental results support the pro-posed hypothesis.
Book•
01 Jan 1976
TL;DR: The authors explored the ways that our minds construct meaning from visual information, including how the mind attributes meaning to things and events, the structure and functioning of the eye and the brain, how we perceive colour, space, depth and distance, motion, the development and mechanics of photography and how the camara effects our perception of reality and the way we think about the world, the incursion of electronic and mass-communication media, and finally, on making and looking at works of art and learning to see more creatively.
Abstract: Combining psychology, art theory and cross-cultural study, this book explores the ways that our minds construct meaning from visual information. There are chapters on how the mind attributes meaning to things and events, the structure and functioning of the eye and the brain, how we perceive colour, space, depth and distance, motion, the development and mechanics of photography and how the camara effects our perception of reality and the way we think about the world, the incursion of electronic and mass-communication media, and finally, on making and looking at works of art and learning to see more creatively.
TL;DR: During surgical removal of a pituitary adenoma, conduction in the anterior visual pathways was monitored by continuous recording of visual evoked responses (VER), and Restoration of the VER was correlated with restoration of normal vision.
Abstract: ✓ During surgical removal of a pituitary adenoma, conduction in the anterior visual pathways was monitored by continuous recording of visual evoked responses (VER). The method employed a scleral contact lens with an embedded flashing diode for delivery of visual stimuli. Evoked potentials of nearly normal latency, amplitude, and form were recorded from occipital scalp electrodes immediately after the optic nerves were decompressed. Restoration of the VER was correlated with restoration of normal vision.
TL;DR: Correlational analysis showed all visual functions to be independent of one another with the exception of photopic acuity and scotopic threshold, which were highly correlated.
Abstract: Four tests of visual perception were given to twenty-five men and twenty-five women. These were a test of acuity, threshold for four field positions, visual persistence, and a measure of comfortable brightness. Subjects also completed five personality questionnaires. In most measures, differences were found to be related to sex rather than to personality factors. In fact, the analyses performed suggest that personality tests do not measure equivalent processes in men and women. Correlational analysis showed all visual functions to be independent of one another with the exception of photopic acuity and scotopic threshold, which were highly correlated. Two new findings on the visual system emerged which have not been reported elsewhere: (i) Four distinct dark adaptation curves were produced, and have been labeled as exponential, flat-exponential, linear, and plateau. All subjects fell into one of these categories and showed a consistent trend to exhibit these curves for all field positions, (ii) Highly sign...
TL;DR: A one-event model for the perception of motion change in which there is a continuous interplay between earlier, later, and interpolated motion segments is favored over a two- event model in which earlier and later segments of velocity are compared.
Abstract: The present research is an investigation of how changes in the rate of motion are perceived. Five separate experiments were performed with the use of filmed stimulus material and a variety of response measures, including both categorical judgments and reproduction techniques. It was found that (a) the smaller the ratio of terminal to initial velocity, the less frequent the judgments of acceleration or deceleration, (b) deceleration was significantly easier to perceive than acceleration, (c) the perception of acceleration was facilitated when the velocity of a lead-in segment was the same as the velocity at onset of motion, (d) a short tunnel centered in the motion path facilitated the perception of acceleration and deceleration, and (e) instantaneous changes in velocity were much more easily perceived than gradual changes. A one-event model for the perception of motion change in which there is a continuous interplay between earlier, later, and interpolated motion segments is favored over a two-event model...
TL;DR: The second part of the Bennett Lecture for 1975 by Denny-Brown examined the subcortical representation of the dissociation of function as well as bilateral, tegmental lesions of the mesencephalic tegmentum.
Abstract: • The second part of the Bennett Lecture for 1975 by Denny-Brown examined the subcortical representation of the dissociation of function described by Denny-Brown and Chambers. Complete removal in the macaque monkey of the corticomesencephalic fibers where they pass from pulvinar to colliculus, and of the colliculus, resulted in the same loss of visual object identification, binocular fixation, and visuosocial behavior that followed removal of area 17. Vision for peripheral movement and spatial orientation ("panoramic vision") remained excellent, with release of catatonia. Conversely, unilateral electrolytic lesions of the mesencephalic tegmentum produced visuospatial distortion, asymmetry of optic righting, and directional difficulties in eye movement (Parinaud syndrome and skew deviation). When bilateral, tegmental lesions produced great constriction of visual field with release of convergence and fixation spasm. Suppression of peripheral attention resulted from perceptual rivalry.
TL;DR: Double flash threshold can be a more sensitive indication of visual damage due to demyelination than conventional clinical tests including critical flicker fusion frequency and provides an absolute measurement of local damage in the visual field and has advantages over the recording of perceptual delay and of evoked potentials.
Abstract: Following retrobulbar neuritis patients need a greater interval between two flashes of light in order to see them as double. The abnormality is large and easily detectable; the values lie well outside the normal 99 per cent tolerance limits. The abnormality sometimes occurs in localized retinal areas but can cover the whole visual field. The abnormality is a persistent one, remaining up to five years after visual acuity has returned to normal. It can occur in the absence of optic atrophy and with normal visual fields. There is also a delay in visual perception following retrobulbar neuritis but when this and double flash discrimination are both measured at the same retinal sites, the areas of abnormality do not correlate for the two tests. This indicates that the two tests monitor different aspects of visual damage. Double flash threshold can be a more sensitive indication of visual damage due to demyelination than conventional clinical tests including critical flicker fusion frequency. It provides an absolute measurement of local damage in the visual field and has advantages over the recording of perceptual delay and of evoked potentials.
TL;DR: Sex differences were investigated in two experiments on visual persistence: the Ganzfeld and the afterimage and it was found that females are more responsive to the long-wave region of the frequency spectrum.
Abstract: Sex differences were investigated in two experiments on visual persistence: the Ganzfeld and the afterimage. Males were found to hold visual sensation longer than females, particularly in the Ganzf...
TL;DR: Comparison of reaction time data with on-the-road measures of legibility distance revealed significant correlations, which add credibility to laboratory measures of reaction times as valid indices of traffic sign perception.
Abstract: Verbal reaction times to identify and to calssify 20 traffic sign messages were measured under three conditions - sign alone, sign plus visual loading task, and sign plus visual loading task plus visual distraction. Similar trends were found in the three experiments: reaction times were smaller for the classification task than for the identification task, smaller for warning than for regulatory signs, and smaller for verbal than for symbolic messages. Comparison of these reaction time data with on-the-road measures of legibility distance revealed significant correlations. The correlational data add credibility to laboratory measures of reaction times as valid of traffic sign perception. /Author/
TL;DR: A mechanism of perception is proposed in which unstructured feedback can accomplish the desired feature-specific enhancement of the input and a possible site in the thalamic relay nuclei is suggested.
Abstract: Perception is generally thought to occur centrally in the nervous system as a result of information which flows unidirectionally through a hierarchy of sensory processors. Such a view is in conflict with recent experimental evidence for a centrifugal control capable of enhancing particular features of the sensory input. Certain phenomena in human perception, resembling order-disorder transitions in physics, also suggest the existence of a positive feedback mechanism in the sensory pathway. A mechanism of perception is proposed in which unstructured feedback can accomplish the desired feature-specific enhancement of the input. The principle used here — the Alopex principle — is one that was devised in this laboratory for the experimental determination of visual receptive fields. The biological requirements for the operation of the principle are discussed, and a possible site in the thalamic relay nuclei is suggested.
TL;DR: The reaching behavior of some 60 infants between 7 and 23 days of age was studied and it was found that the infants did not respond differently to a visually presented, graspable, solid object than to its two-dimensional representation.
Abstract: The reaching behavior of some 60 infants between 7 and 23 days of age was studied. Contrary to some other reports, the infants did not respond differently to a visually presented, graspable, solid object than to its two-dimensional representation.
TL;DR: The main result, the persistence of visual perception during voluntary eye movements, was discussed in relation to the problem of spatial and temporal stability ofVisual perception.
Abstract: 1. The persistence of visual perception was investigated under conditions of visual fixation as well as eye movement. The Ss' task was to discriminate brief double light impulses; their responses were recorded as a function of the duration of the interstimulus interval. Based on these data the critical interstimulus interval was calculated, which yielded equal response frequencies for the perception of one or two stimuli upon presentation of double light pulses.
Journal Article•