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Yaghoubi KC, Kabbara S, Arian S, Kobaissi H, Peters MAK, Seitz AR. Comparing random dot motion in MATLAB vs. Inquisit Millisecond. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1035518. [PMID: 36562063 PMCID: PMC9763265 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1035518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Random Dot Motion (RDM) displays refer to clouds of independently moving dots that can be parametrically manipulated to provide a perception of the overall cloud moving coherently in a specified direction of motion. As a well-studied probe of motion perception, RDMs have been widely employed to understand underlying neural mechanisms of motion perception, perceptual decision-making, and perceptual learning, among other processes. Despite their wide use, RDM stimuli implementation is highly dependent on the parameters and the generation algorithm of the stimuli; both can greatly influence behavioral performance on RDM tasks. With the advent of the COVID pandemic and an increased need for more accessible platforms, we aimed to validate a novel RDM paradigm on Inquisit Millisecond, a platform for the online administration of cognitive and neuropsychological tests and assessments. We directly compared, in the same participants using the same display, a novel RDM paradigm on both Inquisit Millisecond and MATLAB with Psychtoolbox. We found that psychometric functions of Coherence largely match between Inquisit Millisecond and MATLAB, as do the effects of Duration. These data demonstrate that the Millisecond RDM provides data largely consistent with those previously found in laboratory-based systems, and the present findings can serve as a reference point for expected thresholds for when these procedures are used remotely on different platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimia C. Yaghoubi
- Perception and Learning Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States,*Correspondence: Kimia C. Yaghoubi,
| | - Sarah Kabbara
- Perception and Learning Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
| | - Sara Arian
- Perception and Learning Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
| | - Hadi Kobaissi
- Perception and Learning Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
| | - Megan A. K. Peters
- Cognitive and Neural Computation Laboratory, Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States,Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Aaron R. Seitz
- Perception and Learning Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
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Beattie L, Curran W, Benton CP, Harris JM, Hibbard PB. Perceived duration of brief visual events is mediated by timing mechanisms at the global stages of visual processing. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:160928. [PMID: 28405382 PMCID: PMC5383839 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2016] [Accepted: 02/01/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
There is a growing body of evidence pointing to the existence of modality-specific timing mechanisms for encoding sub-second durations. For example, the duration compression effect describes how prior adaptation to a dynamic visual stimulus results in participants underestimating the duration of a sub-second test stimulus when it is presented at the adapted location. There is substantial evidence for the existence of both cortical and pre-cortical visual timing mechanisms; however, little is known about where in the processing hierarchy the cortical mechanisms are likely to be located. We carried out a series of experiments to determine whether or not timing mechanisms are to be found at the global processing level. We had participants adapt to random dot patterns that varied in their motion coherence, thus allowing us to probe the visual system at the level of motion integration. Our first experiment revealed a positive linear relationship between the motion coherence level of the adaptor stimulus and duration compression magnitude. However, increasing the motion coherence level in a stimulus also results in an increase in global speed. To test whether duration compression effects were driven by global speed or global motion, we repeated the experiment, but kept global speed fixed while varying motion coherence levels. The duration compression persisted, but the linear relationship with motion coherence was absent, suggesting that the effect was driven by adapting global speed mechanisms. Our results support previous claims that visual timing mechanisms persist at the level of global processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee Beattie
- School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
| | - William Curran
- School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
| | | | - Julie M. Harris
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK
| | - Paul B. Hibbard
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, UK
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Chuang J, Ausloos EC, Schwebach CA, Huang X. Integration of motion energy from overlapping random background noise increases perceived speed of coherently moving stimuli. J Neurophysiol 2016; 116:2765-2776. [PMID: 27683893 DOI: 10.1152/jn.01068.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2015] [Accepted: 09/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The perception of visual motion can be profoundly influenced by visual context. To gain insight into how the visual system represents motion speed, we investigated how a background stimulus that did not move in a net direction influenced the perceived speed of a center stimulus. Visual stimuli were two overlapping random-dot patterns. The center stimulus moved coherently in a fixed direction, whereas the background stimulus moved randomly. We found that human subjects perceived the speed of the center stimulus to be significantly faster than its veridical speed when the background contained motion noise. Interestingly, the perceived speed was tuned to the noise level of the background. When the speed of the center stimulus was low, the highest perceived speed was reached when the background had a low level of motion noise. As the center speed increased, the peak perceived speed was reached at a progressively higher background noise level. The effect of speed overestimation required the center stimulus to overlap with the background. Increasing the background size within a certain range enhanced the effect, suggesting spatial integration. The speed overestimation was significantly reduced or abolished when the center stimulus and the background stimulus had different colors, or when they were placed at different depths. When the center- and background-stimuli were perceptually separable, speed overestimation was correlated with perceptual similarity between the center- and background-stimuli. These results suggest that integration of motion energy from random motion noise has a significant impact on speed perception. Our findings put new constraints on models regarding the neural basis of speed perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Chuang
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medical and Public Health, McPherson Eye Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Emily C Ausloos
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medical and Public Health, McPherson Eye Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Courtney A Schwebach
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medical and Public Health, McPherson Eye Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Xin Huang
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medical and Public Health, McPherson Eye Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
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Etchells PJ, Benton CP, Ludwig CJH, Gilchrist ID. Testing a simplified method for measuring velocity integration in saccades using a manipulation of target contrast. Front Psychol 2011; 2:115. [PMID: 21687469 PMCID: PMC3108583 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2011] [Accepted: 05/16/2011] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing number of studies in vision research employ analyses of how perturbations in visual stimuli influence behavior on single trials. Recently, we have developed a method along such lines to assess the time course over which object velocity information is extracted on a trial-by-trial basis in order to produce an accurate intercepting saccade to a moving target. Here, we present a simplified version of this methodology, and use it to investigate how changes in stimulus contrast affect the temporal velocity integration window used when generating saccades to moving targets. Observers generated saccades to one of two moving targets which were presented at high (80%) or low (7.5%) contrast. In 50% of trials, target velocity stepped up or down after a variable interval after the saccadic go signal. The extent to which the saccade endpoint can be accounted for as a weighted combination of the pre- or post-step velocities allows for identification of the temporal velocity integration window. Our results show that the temporal integration window takes longer to peak in the low when compared to high contrast condition. By enabling the assessment of how information such as changes in velocity can be used in the programming of a saccadic eye movement on single trials, this study describes and tests a novel methodology with which to look at the internal processing mechanisms that transform sensory visual inputs into oculomotor outputs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Etchells
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol Bristol, UK
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Schütz AC, Braun DI, Movshon JA, Gegenfurtner KR. Does the noise matter? Effects of different kinematogram types on smooth pursuit eye movements and perception. J Vis 2010; 10:26. [PMID: 21149307 DOI: 10.1167/10.13.26] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated how the human visual system and the pursuit system react to visual motion noise. We presented three different types of random-dot kinematograms at five different coherence levels. For transparent motion, the signal and noise labels on each dot were preserved throughout each trial, and noise dots moved with the same speed as the signal dots but in fixed random directions. For white noise motion, every 20 ms the signal and noise labels were randomly assigned to each dot and noise dots appeared at random positions. For Brownian motion, signal and noise labels were also randomly assigned, but the noise dots moved at the signal speed in a direction that varied randomly from moment to moment. Neither pursuit latency nor early eye acceleration differed among the different types of kinematograms. Late acceleration, pursuit gain, and perceived speed all depended on kinematogram type, with good agreement between pursuit gain and perceived speed. For transparent motion, pursuit gain and perceived speed were independent of coherence level. For white and Brownian motions, pursuit gain and perceived speed increased with coherence but were higher for white than for Brownian motion. This suggests that under our conditions, the pursuit system integrates across all directions of motion but not across all speeds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander C Schütz
- Abteilung Allgemeine Psychologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Giessen, Germany.
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What a difference a parameter makes: a psychophysical comparison of random dot motion algorithms. Vision Res 2009; 49:1599-612. [PMID: 19336240 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2009.03.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2009] [Revised: 03/16/2009] [Accepted: 03/23/2009] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Random dot motion (RDM) displays have emerged as one of the standard stimulus types employed in psychophysical and physiological studies of motion processing. RDMs are convenient because it is straightforward to manipulate the relative motion energy for a given motion direction in addition to stimulus parameters such as the speed, contrast, duration, density, aperture, etc. However, as widely as RDMs are employed so do they vary in their details of implementation. As a result, it is often difficult to make direct comparisons across studies employing different RDM algorithms and parameters. Here, we systematically measure the ability of human subjects to estimate motion direction for four commonly used RDM algorithms under a range of parameters in order to understand how these different algorithms compare in their perceptibility. We find that parametric and algorithmic differences can produce dramatically different performances. These effects, while surprising, can be understood in relationship to pertinent neurophysiological data regarding spatiotemporal displacement tuning properties of cells in area MT and how the tuning function changes with stimulus contrast and retinal eccentricity. These data help give a baseline by which different RDM algorithms can be compared, demonstrate a need for clearly reporting RDM details in the methods of papers, and also pose new constraints and challenges to models of motion direction processing.
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