Editorial: Using Noise to Characterize Vision

Frontiers in Psychology

Remy Allard¹ 

关键词: noise;    equivalent input noise;    linear amplifier model;    perceptual template model;    noise image classification;    bandpass noise;    contrast jitter;    phase noise;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01707

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Auditory noise is a sound, a random variation in air pressure. More generally, random “noise” can be introduced into any stimulus, including a visual display. Noise added to the stimulus can probe the computations underlying perception of the stimulus. With power and precision, the noise, by restricting the information available, places fundamental constraints on attainable performance and processing strategy. WWII research on radar led to mathematical theorems about detectability of signals in noise, i.e., Signal Detection Theory (Peterson et al., 1954), which allow human performance to be expressed on an absolute scale of efficiency, 0–100% (Tanner and Birdsall, 1958; Pelli and Farell, 1999). Auditory noise revealed the channels of hearing in studies at Bell Labs that characterized how telephone line noise limits perception of speech (Fletcher, 1953). Studies of visual effects of photographic, x-ray, and video noise (reviewed in Pelli, 1981) led to pioneering work with artificially injected noise by Rose (1957), Stromeyer and Julesz (1972), and Solomon and Pelli (1994). Added visual noise has been widely used to characterize the computations underlying various visual tasks (e.g., detection, discrimination, letter and face recognition, search, averaging, selective attention, perceptual learning) in various populations (e.g., older adults, amblyopes, migrainers, dyslexic children). Different kinds of noise probe different aspects of the computation. For instance, spectrally filtered noise is used to determine the frequencies relevant to a given visual task (e.g., letter identification, Solomon and Pelli, 1994). Noise masking of one attribute (e.g., in luminance, color, or texture) can reveal whether another attribute is processed separately (e.g., Gegenfurtner and Kiper, 1992; Allard and Faubert, 2007, 2008). Noise image classification can reveal the visual features the observer uses to perform a visual task (e.g., Eckstein and Ahumada, 2002). Noise is also often used to characterize what limits sensitivity, such as internal noise (Pelli, 1981; Pelli and Farell, 1999; Lu and Dosher, 2008). This Research Topic issue explores effective ways to use noise to probe visual function.

【 授权许可】

CC BY