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The functional role of serial dependence, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.

The functional role of serial dependence, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.

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The world tends to be stable from moment to moment, leading to strong serial correlations in natural scenes. As similar stimuli usually require similar behavioral responses, it is highly likely that the brain has developed strategies to leverage these regularities. A good deal of recent psychophysical evidence is beginning to show that the brain is sensitive to serial correlations, causing strong drifts in observer responses towards previously seen stimuli. However, it is still not clear that this tendency leads to a functional advantage. Here we test a formal model of optimal serial dependence and show that as predicted, serial dependence in an orientation reproduction task is dependent on current stimulus reliability, with less precise stimuli, such as low spatial frequency oblique Gabors, exhibiting the strongest effects. We also show that serial dependence depends on the similarity between two successive stimuli, again consistent with behavior of an ideal observer aiming at minimizing reproduction errors. Lastly, we show that serial dependence leads to faster response times, indicating that the benefits of serial integration go beyond reproduction error. Overall our data show that serial dependence has a beneficial role at various levels of perception, consistent with the idea that the brain exploits temporal redundancy of the visual scene as an optimization strategy

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Typical numerosity adaptation despite selectively impaired number acuity in dyscalculia, Neuropsychologia.

Typical numerosity adaptation despite selectively impaired number acuity in dyscalculia, Neuropsychologia.

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It has been suggested that a core deficit of the “number sense” may underlie dyscalculia. We test this idea by measuring perceptual adaptation and discrimination thresholds for numerosity and object size in a group of dyscalculic and typical preadolescents (N=71, mean age 12). We confirmed that numerosity discrimination thresholds are higher in evelopmental dyscalculia, while size thresholds are not affected. However, dyscalculics adapted to numerosity in a similar way to typicals. This suggests that although numerosity thresholds are selectively higher in dyscalculia, the mechanisms for perceiving numerosity are otherwise similar, suggesting that that have a similar, but perhaps noisier, number sense.

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Inhibitory surrounds of motion mechanisms revealed by continuous tracking, J Vis, 13 (18), 7.

Inhibitory surrounds of motion mechanisms revealed by continuous tracking, J Vis, 13 (18), 7.

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Continuous psychophysics is a newly developed technique that allows rapid estimation of visual thresholds by asking subjects to track a moving object, then deriving the integration window underlying tracking behavior (Bonnen, Burge, Yates, Pillow, & Cormack, 2015). Leveraging the continuous flow of stimuli and responses, continuous psychophysics allows for estimation of psychophysical thresholds in as little as 1 min. To date this technique has been applied only to tracking visual objects, where it has been used to measure localization thresholds. Here we adapt the technique to visual motion discrimination, by displaying a drifting grating that changes direction on a binary random walk and asking participants to continuously report drift direction by alternate key press. This technique replicates and confirms well-known findings of the motion-perception system. It also proves particularly valuable in demonstrating induced motion, reinforcing evidence for the existence of antagonistic surround fields. At low contrasts, the surround summates with the center, rather than opposing it, again consistent with existing evidence on classical techniques. The user-friendliness and efficiency of the method may lend it to clinical and developmental work.

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Serial Effects are optimal, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, (41).

Serial Effects are optimal, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, (41).

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In the target article, Rahnev & Denison (R&D) use serial effects as an example of suboptimality. We show here that serial effects can be beneficial to perception, serving to reduce both error and response times in a near-optimal fashion. Furthermore, serial effects for stable attributes are positive, whereas those for changeable attributes are negative, demonstrating that they are engaged flexibly to optimize performance.

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Past visual experiences weigh in on body size estimation, Scientific Reports, 1 (8),

Past visual experiences weigh in on body size estimation, Scientific Reports, 1 (8),

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Body size is a salient marker of physical health, with extremes implicated in various mental and physical health issues. It is therefore important to understand the mechanisms of perception of body size of self and others. We report a novel technique we term the bodyline, based on the numberline technique in numerosity studies. One hundred and three young women judged the size of sequentially presented female body images by positioning a marker on a line, delineated with images of extreme sizes. Participants performed this task easily and well, with average standard deviations less than 6% of the total scale. Critically, judgments of size were biased towards the previously viewed body, demonstrating that serial dependencies occur in the judgment of body size. The magnitude of serial dependence was well predicted by a simple Kalman-filter ideal-observer model, suggesting that serial dependence occurs in an optimal, adaptive way to improve performance in size judgments.

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Visual Perception: To Curve or Not to Curve, Current Biology, 4 (28), R150-R152.

 Visual Perception: To Curve or Not to Curve, Current Biology, 4 (28), R150-R152.

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A popular new illusion shows that the apparent curvature of sinusoidal contours depends on contrast and background luminance. We suggest that the illusion is driven by segmentation mechanisms of human vision, which isolate the contours into smaller segments, some which approximate straight lines, others curves.

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Syntactic processing in music and language: Parallel abnormalities observed in congenital amusia, NeuroImage: Clinical, (19), 640-651.

Syntactic processing in music and language: Parallel abnormalities observed in congenital amusia, NeuroImage: Clinical, (19), 640-651.

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Cortical BOLD responses to moderate- and high-speed motion in the human visual cortex, Sci Rep, 1 (8), 8357.

Cortical BOLD responses to moderate- and high-speed motion in the human visual cortex, Sci Rep, 1 (8), 8357.

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We investigated the BOLD response of visual cortical and sub-cortical regions to fast drifting motion presented over wide fields, including the far periphery. Stimuli were sinusoidal gratings of 50% contrast moving at moderate and very high speeds (38 and 570 °/s), projected to a large field of view (~60°). Both stimuli generated strong and balanced responses in the lateral geniculate nucleus and the superior colliculus. In visual cortical areas, responses were evaluated at three different eccentricities: central 0-15°; peripheral 20-30°; and extreme peripheral 30-60°. “Ventral stream” areas (V2, V3, V4) preferred moderate-speeds in the central visual field, while motion area MT+ responded equally well to both speeds at all eccentricities. In all other areas and eccentricities BOLD responses were significant and equally strong for both types of moving stimuli. Support vector machine showed that the direction of the fast-speed motion could be successfully decoded from the BOLD response in all visual areas, suggesting that responses are mediated by motion mechanisms rather than being an unspecific preference for fast rate of flicker. The results show that the visual cortex responds to very fast motion, at speeds generated when we move our eyes rapidly, or when moving objects pass by closely.

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Independent adaptation mechanisms for numerosity and size perception provide evidence against a common sense of magnitude, Sci Rep, 1 (8), 13571.

Independent adaptation mechanisms for numerosity and size perception provide evidence against a common sense of magnitude, Sci Rep, 1 (8), 13571.

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How numerical quantity is processed is a central issue for cognition. On the one hand the “number sense theory” claims that numerosity is perceived directly, and may represent an early precursor for acquisition of mathematical skills. On the other, the “theory of magnitude” notes that numerosity correlates with many continuous properties such as size and density, and may therefore not exist as an independent feature, but be part of a more general system of magnitude. In this study we examined interactions in sensitivity between numerosity and size perception. In a group of children, we measured psychophysically two sensory parameters: perceptual adaptation and discrimination thresholds for both size and numerosity. Neither discrimination thresholds nor adaptation strength for numerosity and size correlated across participants. This clear lack of correlation (confirmed by Bayesian analyses) suggests that numerosity and size interference effects are unlikely to reflect a shared sensory representation. We suggest these small interference effects may rather result from top-down phenomena occurring at late decisional levels rather than a primary “sense of magnitude”.