1
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Clark TK, Galvan-Garza RC, Merfeld DM. Intra-individual consistency of vestibular perceptual thresholds. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024; 86:1417-1434. [PMID: 38658516 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02886-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Vestibular perceptual thresholds quantify sensory noise associated with reliable perception of small self-motions. Previous studies have identified substantial variation between even healthy individuals' thresholds. However, it remains unclear if or how an individual's vestibular threshold varies over repeated measures across various time scales (repeated measurements on the same day, across days, weeks, or months). Here, we assessed yaw rotation and roll tilt thresholds in four individuals and compared this intra-individual variability to inter-individual variability of thresholds measured across a large age-matched cohort each measured only once. For analysis, we performed simulations of threshold measurements where there was no underlying variability (or it was manipulated) to compare to that observed empirically. We found remarkable consistency in vestibular thresholds within individuals, for both yaw rotation and roll tilt; this contrasts with substantial inter-individual differences. Thus, we conclude that vestibular perceptual thresholds are an innate characteristic, which validates pooling measures across sessions and potentially serves as a stable clinical diagnostic and/or biomarker.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torin K Clark
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Bioastronautics Laboratory, Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado-Boulder, 3375 Discovery Dr. AERO N301, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.
| | - Raquel C Galvan-Garza
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
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2
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Gonzalez ELC, King SA, Karmali F. Your Vestibular Thresholds May Be Lower Than You Think: Cognitive Biases in Vestibular Psychophysics. Am J Audiol 2023; 32:730-738. [PMID: 37084775 PMCID: PMC10721247 DOI: 10.1044/2023_aja-22-00186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 04/23/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Recently, there has been a surge of interest in measuring vestibular perceptual thresholds, which quantify the smallest motion that a subject can reliably perceive, to study physiology and pathophysiology. These thresholds are sensitive to age, pathology, and postural performance. Threshold tasks require decisions to be made in the presence of uncertainty. Since humans often rely on past information when making decisions in the presence of uncertainty, we hypothesized that (a) perceptual responses are affected by their preceding trial; (b) perceptual responses tend to be biased opposite of the "preceding response" because of cognitive biases but are not biased by the "preceding stimulus"; and (c) when fits do not account for this cognitive bias, thresholds are overestimated. To our knowledge, these hypotheses are unaddressed in vestibular and direction-recognition tasks. CONCLUSIONS Results in normal subjects supported each hypothesis. Subjects tended to respond opposite of their preceding response (not the preceding stimulus), indicating a cognitive bias, and this caused an overestimation of thresholds. Using an enhanced model (MATLAB code provided) that considered these effects, average thresholds were lower (5.5% for yaw, 7.1% for interaural). Since the results indicate that the magnitude of cognitive bias varies across subjects, this enhanced model can reduce measurement variability and potentially improve the efficiency of data collection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Lopez-Contreras Gonzalez
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston
- Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Susan A. King
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston
| | - Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston
- Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
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3
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Huang J, Zhou Y, Tzvetanov T. Influences of local and global context on local orientation perception. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 58:3503-3517. [PMID: 37547942 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
Visual context modulates perception of local orientation attributes. These spatially very localised effects are considered to correspond to specific excitatory-inhibitory connectivity patterns of early visual areas as V1, creating perceptual tilt repulsion and attraction effects. Here, orientation misperception of small Gabor stimuli was used as a probe of this computational structure by sampling a large spatio-orientation space to reveal expected asymmetries due to the underlying neuronal processing. Surprisingly, the results showed a regular iso-orientation pattern of nearby location effects whose reference point was globally modulated by the spatial structure, without any complex interactions between local positions and orientation. This pattern of results was confirmed by the two perceptual parameters of bias and discrimination ability. Furthermore, the response times to stimulus configuration displayed variations that further provided evidence of how multiple early visual stages affect perception of simple stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinfeng Huang
- Department of Psychology, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yifeng Zhou
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tzvetomir Tzvetanov
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Affective Computing and Advanced Intelligent Machine, School of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China
- NEUROPSYPHY Tzvetomir TZVETANOV EIRL, Horbourg-Wihr, France
- Ciwei Kexue Yanjiu (Shenzhen) Youxian Gongsi , Shenzhen, China
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4
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Esposito A, Chiarella SG, Raffone A, Nikolaev AR, van Leeuwen C. Perceptual bias contextualized in visually ambiguous stimuli. Cognition 2023; 230:105284. [PMID: 36174260 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The visual appearance of an object is a function of stimulus properties as well as perceptual biases imposed by the observer. The context-specific trade-off between both can be measured accurately in a perceptual judgment task, involving grouping by proximity in ambiguous dot lattices. Such grouping depends lawfully on a stimulus parameter of the dot lattices known as their aspect ratio (AR), whose effect is modulated by a perceptual bias representing the preference for a cardinal orientation. In two experiments, we investigated how preceding context can lead to bias modulation, either in a top-down fashion via visual working memory (VWM) or bottom-up via sensory priming. In Experiment 1, we embedded the perceptual judgment task in a change detection paradigm and studied how the factors of VWM load (complexity of the memory array) and content (congruency in orientation to the ensuing dot lattice) affect the prominence of perceptual bias. A robust vertical orientation bias was observed, which was increased by VWM load and modulated by congruent VWM content. In Experiment 2, dot lattices were preceded by oriented primes. Here, primes regardless of orientation elicited a vertical orientation bias in dot lattices compared to a neutral baseline. Taken together, the two experiments demonstrate that top-down context (VWM load and content) effectively controls orientation bias modulation, while bottom-up context (i.e., priming) merely acts as an undifferentiated trigger to perceptual bias. These findings characterize the temporal context sensitivity of Gestalt perception, shed light on the processes responsible for different perceptual outcomes of ambiguous stimuli, and identify some of the mechanisms controlling perceptual bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonino Esposito
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Brain and Cognition Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Salvatore Gaetano Chiarella
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Brain and Cognition Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Andrey R Nikolaev
- Brain and Cognition Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium; Department of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden
| | - Cees van Leeuwen
- Brain and Cognition Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium; Center for Cognitive Science, TU Kaiserslautern, Germany
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5
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Altered Reinforcement Learning from Reward and Punishment in Anorexia Nervosa: Evidence from Computational Modeling. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2022; 28:1003-1015. [PMID: 34839845 PMCID: PMC9148374 DOI: 10.1017/s1355617721001326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with altered sensitivity to reward and punishment. Few studies have investigated whether this results in aberrant learning. The ability to learn from rewarding and aversive experiences is essential for flexibly adapting to changing environments, yet individuals with AN tend to demonstrate cognitive inflexibility, difficulty set-shifting and altered decision-making. Deficient reinforcement learning may contribute to repeated engagement in maladaptive behavior. METHODS This study investigated learning in AN using a probabilistic associative learning task that separated learning of stimuli via reward from learning via punishment. Forty-two individuals with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 restricting-type AN were compared to 38 healthy controls (HCs). We applied computational models of reinforcement learning to assess group differences in learning, thought to be driven by violations in expectations, or prediction errors (PEs). Linear regression analyses examined whether learning parameters predicted BMI at discharge. RESULTS AN had lower learning rates than HC following both positive and negative PE (p < .02), and were less likely to exploit what they had learned. Negative PE on punishment trials predicted lower discharge BMI (p < .001), suggesting individuals with more negative expectancies about avoiding punishment had the poorest outcome. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to show lower rates of learning in AN following both positive and negative outcomes, with worse punishment learning predicting less weight gain. An inability to modify expectations about avoiding punishment might explain persistence of restricted eating despite negative consequences, and suggests that treatments that modify negative expectancy might be effective in reducing food avoidance in AN.
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Schneider KA, Malik I. A three-response task reveals how attention alters decision criteria but not appearance. J Vis 2021; 21:30. [PMID: 34038507 PMCID: PMC8164366 DOI: 10.1167/jov.21.5.30] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 05/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Whether attention alters appearance or just changes decision criteria continues to be controversial. When subjects are forced to choose which of two equal targets, one of which has been pre-cued, has a higher contrast, they tend to choose the cued target. This has been interpreted as attention increasing the apparent contrast of the cued target. However, when subjects must decide whether the two targets have equal or unequal contrast, they respond veridically with no apparent effect of attention. The discrepancy between these comparative and equality judgments is explained by attention altering the decision criteria but not appearance. We supposed that when subjects are forced to choose which of two apparently equal targets has the higher contrast, they tend to proportion their uncertainty in favor of the cued target. To test this hypothesis, we used a three-response task, in which subjects chose which target had the higher contrast but also had the option to report that the targets appeared equal. This task disentangled potential attention effects on appearance from those on the decision criteria. We found that subjects with narrower criteria about what constituted equal contrast were more likely to choose the cued target, supporting the uncertainty stealing hypothesis. Across the population, the effects of the attentional cue are explained as changes in the decision criteria and not changes in appearance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keith A Schneider
- Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
- Center for Biological & Brain Imaging, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - Ibrahim Malik
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Center for Biological & Brain Imaging, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
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7
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Statistical approaches to identifying lapses in psychometric response data. Psychon Bull Rev 2021; 28:1433-1457. [PMID: 33825094 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-021-01876-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Psychometric curve fits relate physical stimuli to an observer's performance. In experiments an observer may "lapse" and respond with a random guess, which may negatively impact (e.g., bias) the psychometric fit parameters. A lapse-rate model has been popularized by Wichmann and Hill, which reduces the impact of lapses on other estimated parameters by adding a parameter to model the lapse rate. Since lapses are discrete events, we developed a discrete lapse theory and tested a "lapse identification" algorithm to identify individual outlier trials (i.e., potential lapses) based upon an approximate statistical criterion and discard these trials. Specifically, we focused on stimuli sampled using an adaptive staircase for a one-interval, direction-recognition task (i.e., psychometric function ranging from 0 to 1 and the spread of the curve corresponds to the threshold, which is often a parameter of interest for many fitted psychometric functions). Through simulations, we found that as the lapse rate increased the threshold became substantially overestimated, consistent with earlier analyses. While the lapse-rate model reduced the overestimation of threshold with many lapses, with lower lapse rates it yielded substantial threshold underestimation, though less so when fitting many (e.g., 1,000) trials. In comparison, the lapse-identification algorithm yielded accurate threshold estimates across a wide range of lapse rates (from 0 to 5%), which is critical since the lapse rate is seldom known. We further demonstrate the performance of the lapse-identification algorithm to be suitable for a variety of experimental conditions and conclude with some considerations of its use. In particular, we suggest using the lapse-identification algorithm unless the experiment has many trials (e.g., >500) or if somehow the lapse rate is known to be high (e.g., ≥5%), for which the lapse-rate model approaches remain preferred.
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8
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Order effects in two-alternative forced-choice tasks invalidate adaptive threshold estimates. Behav Res Methods 2021; 52:2168-2187. [PMID: 32232736 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-020-01384-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Adaptive psychophysical methods are widely used for the quick estimation of percentage points (thresholds) on psychometric functions for two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) tasks. The use of adaptive methods is supported by numerous simulation studies documenting their performance, which have shown that thresholds can be reasonably estimated with them when their founding assumptions hold. One of these assumptions is that the psychometric function is invariant, but empirical evidence is mounting that human performance in 2AFC tasks needs to be described by two different psychometric functions, one that holds when the test stimulus is presented first in the 2AFC trial and a different one that holds when the test is presented second. The same holds when presentations are instead simultaneous at two spatial locations rather than sequential. We re-evaluated the performance of adaptive methods in the presence of these order effects via simulation studies and an empirical study with human observers. The simulation study showed that thresholds are severely overestimated by adaptive methods in these conditions, and the empirical study corroborated these findings. These results question the validity of threshold estimates obtained with adaptive methods that incorrectly assume the psychometric function to be invariant with presentation order. Alternative ways in which thresholds can be accurately estimated in the presence of order effects are discussed.
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9
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Bedggood P. Are you sure? The relationship between response certainty and performance in visual detection using a perimetry-style task. J Vis 2020; 20:27. [PMID: 32845962 PMCID: PMC7453053 DOI: 10.1167/jov.20.8.27] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Conventional psychophysical methods ignore the degree of confidence associated with each response. We compared the psychometric function for detection with that for "absolute certainty" in a perimetry-style task, to explore how knowledge of response certainty might aid the estimation of detection thresholds. Five healthy subjects performed a temporal 2-AFC detection task, indicating on each trial whether they were "absolutely certain." The method of constant stimuli was used to characterize the shape of the two psychometric functions. Four eccentricities spanning central and peripheral vision were tested. Where possible, conditions approximated those of the Humphrey Field Analyzer (spot size, duration, background luminance, test locations). Based on the empirical data, adaptive runs (ZEST) were simulated to predict the likely improvement in efficiency obtained by collecting certainty information. Compared to detection, threshold for certainty was 0.5 to 1.0 dB worse, and slope was indistinguishable across all eccentricities tested. A simple two-stage model explained the threshold difference; under this model, psychometric functions for detection and for certainty-given-detection are the same. Exploiting this equivalence is predicted to reduce the number of trials required to achieve a given level of accuracy by approximately 30% to 40%. The chances of detecting a spot and the chances of certainty-given-detection were approximately the same in young, healthy subjects. This means, for example, that a spot detected at threshold was labeled as "certainly" detected approximately half the time. The collection of certainty information could be used to improve the efficiency of estimation of detection thresholds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip Bedggood
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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10
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The Do's and Don'ts of Psychophysical Methods for Interpretability of Psychometric Functions and Their Descriptors. SPANISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2019; 22:E56. [PMID: 31868158 DOI: 10.1017/sjp.2019.49] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Many areas of research require measuring psychometric functions or their descriptors (thresholds, slopes, etc.). Data for this purpose are collected with psychophysical methods of various types and justification for the interpretation of results arises from a model of performance grounded in signal detection theory. Decades of research have shown that psychophysical data display features that are incompatible with such framework, questioning the validity of interpretations obtained under it and revealing that psychophysical performance is more complex than this framework entertains. This paper describes the assumptions and formulation of the conventional framework for the two major classes of psychophysical methods (single- and dual-presentation methods) and presents various lines of empirical evidence that the framework is inconsistent with. An alternative framework is then described and shown to account for all the characteristics that the conventional framework regards as anomalies. This alternative process model explicitly separates the sensory, decisional, and response components of performance and represents them via parameters whose estimation characterizes the corresponding processes. Retrospective and prospective evidence of the validity of the alternative framework is also presented. A formal analysis also reveals that some psychophysical methods and response formats are unsuitable for separation of the three components of observed performance. Recommendations are thus given regarding practices that should be avoided and those that should be followed to ensure interpretability of the psychometric function, or descriptors (detection threshold, difference limen, point of subjective equality, etc.) obtained with shortcut methods that do not require estimation of psychometric functions.
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11
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Kabbaligere R, Layne CS, Karmali F. Perception of threshold-level whole-body motion during mechanical mastoid vibration. J Vestib Res 2019; 28:283-294. [PMID: 30149483 DOI: 10.3233/ves-180636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Vibration applied on the mastoid has been shown to be an excitatory stimulus to the vestibular receptors, but its effect on vestibular perception is unknown. OBJECTIVE Determine whether mastoid vibration affects yaw rotation perception using a self-motion perceptual direction-recognition task. METHODS We used continuous, bilateral, mechanical mastoid vibration using a stimulus with frequency content between 1 and 500 Hz. Vestibular perception of 10 healthy adults (M±S.D. = 34.3±12 years old) was tested with and without vibration. Subjects repeatedly reported the perceived direction of threshold-level yaw rotations administered at 1 Hz by a motorized platform. A cumulative Gaussian distribution function was fit to subjects' responses, which was described by two parameters: bias and threshold. Bias was defined as the mean of the Gaussian distribution, and equal to the motion perceived on average when exposed to null stimuli. Threshold was defined as the standard deviation of the distribution and corresponded to the stimulus the subject could reliably perceive. RESULTS The results show that mastoid vibration may reduce bias, although two statistical tests yield different conclusions. There was no evidence that yaw rotation thresholds were affected. CONCLUSIONS Bilateral mastoid vibration may reduce left-right asymmetry in motion perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rakshatha Kabbaligere
- Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.,Center for Neuromotor and Biomechanics Research, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Charles S Layne
- Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.,Center for Neuromotor and Biomechanics Research, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.,Center for Neuro-Engineering and Cognitive Science, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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12
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Yi Y, Wang W, Merfeld DM. A quantitative confidence signal detection model: 2. Confidence analysis. J Neurophysiol 2019; 122:904-921. [PMID: 31215314 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00400.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Decision making is a fundamental subfield within neuroscience. While recent findings have yielded major advances in our understanding of decision making, confidence in such decisions remains poorly understood. In this paper, we present a confidence signal detection (CSD) model that combines a standard signal detection model yielding a noisy decision variable with a model of confidence. The CSD model requires quantitative measures of confidence obtained by recording confidence probability judgments. Specifically, we model confidence probability judgments for binary direction recognition (e.g., did I move left or right) decisions. We use our CSD model to study both confidence calibration (i.e., how does confidence compare with performance) and the distributions of confidence probability judgments. We evaluate two variants of our CSD model: a conventional model with two free parameters (CSD2) that assumes that confidence is well calibrated and our new model with three free parameters (CSD3) that includes an additional confidence scaling factor. On average, our CSD2 and CSD3 models explain 73 and 82%, respectively, of the variance found in our empirical data set. Furthermore, for our large data sets consisting of 3,600 trials per subject, correlation and residual analyses suggest that the CSD3 model better explains the predominant aspects of the empirical data than the CSD2 model, especially for subjects whose confidence is not well calibrated. Moreover, simulations show that asymmetric confidence distributions can lead traditional confidence calibration analyses to suggest "underconfidence" even when confidence is perfectly calibrated. These findings show that this CSD model can be used to help improve our understanding of confidence and decision making.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We make life-or-death decisions each day; our actions depend on our "confidence." Though confidence, accuracy, and response time are the three pillars of decision making, we know little about confidence. In a previous paper, we presented a new model - dependent on a single scaling parameter - that transforms decision variables to confidence. Here we show that this model explains the empirical human confidence distributions obtained during a vestibular direction recognition task better than standard signal detection models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongwoo Yi
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
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13
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Linares D, Aguilar-Lleyda D, López-Moliner J. Decoupling sensory from decisional choice biases in perceptual decision making. eLife 2019; 8:e43994. [PMID: 30916643 PMCID: PMC6459673 DOI: 10.7554/elife.43994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2018] [Accepted: 03/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The contribution of sensory and decisional processes to perceptual decision making is still unclear, even in simple perceptual tasks. When decision makers need to select an action from a set of balanced alternatives, any tendency to choose one alternative more often-choice bias-is consistent with a bias in the sensory evidence, but also with a preference to select that alternative independently of the sensory evidence. To decouple sensory from decisional biases, here we asked humans to perform a simple perceptual discrimination task with two symmetric alternatives under two different task instructions. The instructions varied the response mapping between perception and the category of the alternatives. We found that from 32 participants, 30 exhibited sensory biases and 15 decisional biases. The decisional biases were consistent with a criterion change in a simple signal detection theory model. Perceptual decision making, thus, even in simple scenarios, is affected by sensory and decisional choice biases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Linares
- Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS)BarcelonaSpain
| | - David Aguilar-Lleyda
- Centre d’Économie de la Sorbonne (CNRS & Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)ParisFrance
| | - Joan López-Moliner
- VISCA Group, Department of Cognition, Development and Psychology of Education, Institut de NeurociènciesUniversitat de BarcelonaBarcelonaSpain
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14
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García-Pérez MA. Psychophysical Tests Do Not Identify Ocular Dominance Consistently. Iperception 2019; 10:2041669519841397. [PMID: 31069044 PMCID: PMC6492369 DOI: 10.1177/2041669519841397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2018] [Accepted: 03/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Classical sighting or sensory tests are used in clinical practice to identify the dominant eye. Several psychophysical tests were recently proposed to quantify the magnitude of dominance but whether their results agree was never investigated. We addressed this question for the two most common psychophysical tests: The perceived-phase test, which measures the cyclopean appearance of dichoptically presented sinusoids of different phase, and the coherence-threshold test, which measures interocular differences in motion perception when signal and noise stimuli are presented dichoptically. We also checked for agreement with three classical tests (Worth 4-dot, Randot suppression, and Bagolini lenses). Psychophysical tests were administered in their conventional form and also using more dependable psychophysical methods. The results showed weak correlations between psychophysical measures of strength of dominance with inconsistent identification of the dominant eye across tests: Agreement on left-eye dominance, right-eye dominance, or nondominance by both tests occurred only for 11 of 40 observers (27.5%); the remaining 29 observers were classified differently by each test, including 14 cases (35%) of opposite classification (left-eye dominance by one test and right-eye dominance by the other). Classical tests also yielded conflicting results that did not agree well with classification based on psychophysical tests. The results are discussed in the context of determination of ocular dominance for clinical decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A. García-Pérez
- Departamento de Metodología, Facultad de Psicología,
Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
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15
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Li Q, Liu P, Huang S, Huang X. The influence of phasic alerting on multisensory temporal precision. Exp Brain Res 2018; 236:3279-3296. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-018-5372-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2018] [Accepted: 08/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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16
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Clark TK, Yi Y, Galvan-Garza RC, Bermúdez Rey MC, Merfeld DM. When uncertain, does human self-motion decision-making fully utilize complete information? J Neurophysiol 2017; 119:1485-1496. [PMID: 29357467 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00680.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
When forced to choose humans often feel uncertain. Investigations of human perceptual decision-making often employ signal detection theory, which assumes that even when uncertain all available information is fully utilized. However, other studies have suggested or assumed that, when uncertain, human subjects guess totally at random, ignoring available information. When uncertain, do humans simply guess totally at random? Or do humans fully utilize complete information? Or does behavior fall between these two extremes yielding "above chance" performance without fully utilizing complete information? While it is often assumed complete information is fully utilized, even when uncertain, to our knowledge this has never been experimentally confirmed. To answer this question, we combined numerical simulations, theoretical analyses, and human studies performed using a self-motion direction-recognition perceptual decision-making task (did I rotate left or right?). Subjects were instructed to make forced-choice binary (left/right) and trinary (left/right/uncertain) decisions when cued following each stimulus. Our results show that humans 1) do not guess at random when uncertain and 2) make binary and trinary decisions equally well. These findings show that humans fully utilize complete information when uncertain for our perceptual decision-making task. This helps unify signal detection theory and other models of forced-choice decision-making which allow for uncertain responses. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Humans make many perceptual decisions every day. But what if we are uncertain? While many studies assume that humans fully utilize complete information, other studies have suggested and/or assumed that when we're uncertain and forced to decide, information is not fully utilized. While humans tend to perform above chance when uncertain, no earlier study has tested whether available information is fully utilized. Our results show that humans make fully informed decisions even when uncertain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torin K Clark
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts.,Man-Vehicle Laboratory, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder , Boulder, Colorado
| | - Yongwoo Yi
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts
| | | | - María Carolina Bermúdez Rey
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts.,Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University , Columbus, Ohio
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17
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Karmali F, Bermúdez Rey MC, Clark TK, Wang W, Merfeld DM. Multivariate Analyses of Balance Test Performance, Vestibular Thresholds, and Age. Front Neurol 2017; 8:578. [PMID: 29167656 PMCID: PMC5682300 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2017] [Accepted: 10/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
We previously published vestibular perceptual thresholds and performance in the Modified Romberg Test of Standing Balance in 105 healthy humans ranging from ages 18 to 80 (1). Self-motion thresholds in the dark included roll tilt about an earth-horizontal axis at 0.2 and 1 Hz, yaw rotation about an earth-vertical axis at 1 Hz, y-translation (interaural/lateral) at 1 Hz, and z-translation (vertical) at 1 Hz. In this study, we focus on multiple variable analyses not reported in the earlier study. Specifically, we investigate correlations (1) among the five thresholds measured and (2) between thresholds, age, and the chance of failing condition 4 of the balance test, which increases vestibular reliance by having subjects stand on foam with eyes closed. We found moderate correlations (0.30–0.51) between vestibular thresholds for different motions, both before and after using our published aging regression to remove age effects. We found that lower or higher thresholds across all threshold measures are an individual trait that account for about 60% of the variation in the population. This can be further distributed into two components with about 20% of the variation explained by aging and 40% of variation explained by a single principal component that includes similar contributions from all threshold measures. When only roll tilt 0.2 Hz thresholds and age were analyzed together, we found that the chance of failing condition 4 depends significantly on both (p = 0.006 and p = 0.013, respectively). An analysis incorporating more variables found that the chance of failing condition 4 depended significantly only on roll tilt 0.2 Hz thresholds (p = 0.046) and not age (p = 0.10), sex nor any of the other four threshold measures, suggesting that some of the age effect might be captured by the fact that vestibular thresholds increase with age. For example, at 60 years of age, the chance of failing is roughly 5% for the lowest roll tilt thresholds in our population, but this increases to 80% for the highest roll tilt thresholds. These findings demonstrate the importance of roll tilt vestibular cues for balance, even in individuals reporting no vestibular symptoms and with no evidence of vestibular dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - María Carolina Bermúdez Rey
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Torin K Clark
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.,Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Wei Wang
- Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.,Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
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18
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Burgess CP, Lak A, Steinmetz NA, Zatka-Haas P, Bai Reddy C, Jacobs EAK, Linden JF, Paton JJ, Ranson A, Schröder S, Soares S, Wells MJ, Wool LE, Harris KD, Carandini M. High-Yield Methods for Accurate Two-Alternative Visual Psychophysics in Head-Fixed Mice. Cell Rep 2017; 20:2513-2524. [PMID: 28877482 PMCID: PMC5603732 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.08.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2016] [Revised: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 08/14/2017] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Research in neuroscience increasingly relies on the mouse, a mammalian species that affords unparalleled genetic tractability and brain atlases. Here, we introduce high-yield methods for probing mouse visual decisions. Mice are head-fixed, facilitating repeatable visual stimulation, eye tracking, and brain access. They turn a steering wheel to make two alternative choices, forced or unforced. Learning is rapid thanks to intuitive coupling of stimuli to wheel position. The mouse decisions deliver high-quality psychometric curves for detection and discrimination and conform to the predictions of a simple probabilistic observer model. The task is readily paired with two-photon imaging of cortical activity. Optogenetic inactivation reveals that the task requires mice to use their visual cortex. Mice are motivated to perform the task by fluid reward or optogenetic stimulation of dopamine neurons. This stimulation elicits a larger number of trials and faster learning. These methods provide a platform to accurately probe mouse vision and its neural basis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Armin Lak
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | | | - Peter Zatka-Haas
- UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology (CoMPLEX), University College London, London, UK
| | - Charu Bai Reddy
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Elina A K Jacobs
- UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | | | | | - Adam Ranson
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Sylvia Schröder
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Sofia Soares
- Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Miles J Wells
- UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Lauren E Wool
- UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Kenneth D Harris
- UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Matteo Carandini
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
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19
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Does the Superior Colliculus Control Perceptual Sensitivity or Choice Bias during Attention? Evidence from a Multialternative Decision Framework. J Neurosci 2017; 37:480-511. [PMID: 28100734 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.4505-14.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2014] [Revised: 07/15/2016] [Accepted: 07/19/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Distinct networks in the forebrain and the midbrain coordinate to control spatial attention. The critical involvement of the superior colliculus (SC)-the central structure in the midbrain network-in visuospatial attention has been shown by four seminal, published studies in monkeys (Macaca mulatta) performing multialternative tasks. However, due to the lack of a mechanistic framework for interpreting behavioral data in such tasks, the nature of the SC's contribution to attention remains unclear. Here we present and validate a novel decision framework for analyzing behavioral data in multialternative attention tasks. We apply this framework to re-examine the behavioral evidence from these published studies. Our model is a multidimensional extension to signal detection theory that distinguishes between two major classes of attentional mechanisms: those that alter the quality of sensory information or "sensitivity," and those that alter the selective gating of sensory information or "choice bias." Model-based simulations and model-based analyses of data from these published studies revealed a converging pattern of results that indicated that choice-bias changes, rather than sensitivity changes, were the primary outcome of SC manipulation. Our results suggest that the SC contributes to attentional performance predominantly by generating a spatial choice bias for stimuli at a selected location, and that this bias operates downstream of forebrain mechanisms that enhance sensitivity. The findings lead to a testable mechanistic framework of how the midbrain and forebrain networks interact to control spatial attention. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Attention involves the selection of the most relevant information for differential sensory processing and decision making. While the mechanisms by which attention alters sensory encoding (sensitivity control) are well studied, the mechanisms by which attention alters decisional weighting of sensory evidence (choice-bias control) are poorly understood. Here, we introduce a model of multialternative decision making that distinguishes bias from sensitivity effects in attention tasks. With our model, we simulate experimental data from four seminal studies that microstimulated or inactivated a key attention-related midbrain structure, the superior colliculus (SC). We demonstrate that the experimental effects of SC manipulation are entirely consistent with the SC controlling attention by changing choice bias, thereby shedding new light on how the brain mediates attention.
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20
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García-Pérez MA, Alcalá-Quintana R. The Indecision Model of Psychophysical Performance in Dual-Presentation Tasks: Parameter Estimation and Comparative Analysis of Response Formats. Front Psychol 2017; 8:1142. [PMID: 28747893 PMCID: PMC5506217 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2017] [Accepted: 06/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychophysical data from dual-presentation tasks are often collected with the two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) response format, asking observers to guess when uncertain. For an analytical description of performance, psychometric functions are then fitted to data aggregated across the two orders/positions in which stimuli were presented. Yet, order effects make aggregated data uninterpretable, and the bias with which observers guess when uncertain precludes separating sensory from decisional components of performance. A ternary response format in which observers are also allowed to report indecision should fix these problems, but a comparative analysis with the 2AFC format has never been conducted. In addition, fitting ternary data separated by presentation order poses serious challenges. To address these issues, we extended the indecision model of psychophysical performance to accommodate the ternary, 2AFC, and same-different response formats in detection and discrimination tasks. Relevant issues for parameter estimation are also discussed along with simulation results that document the superiority of the ternary format. These advantages are demonstrated by fitting the indecision model to published detection and discrimination data collected with the ternary, 2AFC, or same-different formats, which had been analyzed differently in the sources. These examples also show that 2AFC data are unsuitable for testing certain types of hypotheses. matlab and R routines written for our purposes are available as Supplementary Material, which should help spread the use of the ternary format for dependable collection and interpretation of psychophysical data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A García-Pérez
- Departamento de Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad ComplutenseMadrid, Spain
| | - Rocío Alcalá-Quintana
- Departamento de Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad ComplutenseMadrid, Spain
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21
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Visual illusion of tool use recalibrates tactile perception. Cognition 2017; 162:32-40. [PMID: 28196765 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.01.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2016] [Revised: 01/27/2017] [Accepted: 01/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Brief use of a tool recalibrates multisensory representations of the user's body, a phenomenon called tool embodiment. Despite two decades of research, little is known about its boundary conditions. It has been widely argued that embodiment requires active tool use, suggesting a critical role for somatosensory and motor feedback. The present study used a visual illusion to cast doubt on this view. We used a mirror-based setup to induce a visual experience of tool use with an arm that was in fact stationary. Following illusory tool use, tactile perception was recalibrated on this stationary arm, and with equal magnitude as physical use. Recalibration was not found following illusory passive tool holding, and could not be accounted for by sensory conflict or general interhemispheric plasticity. These results suggest visual tool-use signals play a critical role in driving tool embodiment.
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22
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Holcombe AO, Brown NJL, Goodbourn PT, Etz A, Geukes S. Does sadness impair color perception? Flawed evidence and faulty methods. F1000Res 2016; 5:1778. [PMID: 27606051 PMCID: PMC4979646 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.9202.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In their 2015 paper, Thorstenson, Pazda, and Elliot offered evidence from two experiments that perception of colors on the blue–yellow axis was impaired if the participants had watched a sad movie clip, compared to participants who watched clips designed to induce a happy or neutral mood. Subsequently, these authors retracted their article, citing a mistake in their statistical analyses and a problem with the data in one of their experiments. Here, we discuss a number of other methodological problems with Thorstenson et al.’s experimental design, and also demonstrate that the problems with the data go beyond what these authors reported. We conclude that repeating one of the two experiments, with the minor revisions proposed by Thorstenson et al., will not be sufficient to address the problems with this work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex O Holcombe
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Nicholas J L Brown
- Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9713 GZ, Netherlands
| | - Patrick T Goodbourn
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia; School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Alexander Etz
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92697-5100, USA
| | - Sebastian Geukes
- Institut für Psychologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, 48149, Germany
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23
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An Adaptable Metric Shapes Perceptual Space. Curr Biol 2016; 26:1911-5. [PMID: 27426520 PMCID: PMC4963211 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2016] [Revised: 04/15/2016] [Accepted: 05/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
How do we derive a sense of the separation of points in the world within a space-variant visual system? Visual directions are thought to be coded directly by a process referred to as local sign, in which a neuron acts as a labeled line for the perceived direction associated with its activation [1, 2]. The separations of visual directions, however, are not given, nor are they directly related to the separations of signals on the receptive surface or in the brain, which are modified by retinal and cortical magnification, respectively [3]. To represent the separation of directions veridically, the corresponding neural signals need to be scaled in some way. We considered this scaling process may be influenced by adaptation. Here, we describe a novel adaptation paradigm, which can alter both apparent spatial separation and size. We measured the perceived separation of two dots and the size of geometric figures after adaptation to random dot patterns. We show that adapting to high-density texture not only increases the apparent sparseness (average element separation) of a lower-density pattern, as expected [4], but paradoxically, it reduces the apparent separation of dot pairs and induces apparent shrinkage of geometric form. This demonstrates for the first time a contrary linkage between perceived density and perceived extent. Separation and size appear to be expressed relative to a variable spatial metric whose properties, while not directly observable, are revealed by reductions in both apparent size and texture density.
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24
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Yi Y, Merfeld DM. A quantitative confidence signal detection model: 1. Fitting psychometric functions. J Neurophysiol 2016; 115:1932-45. [PMID: 26763777 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00318.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2015] [Accepted: 01/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Perceptual thresholds are commonly assayed in the laboratory and clinic. When precision and accuracy are required, thresholds are quantified by fitting a psychometric function to forced-choice data. The primary shortcoming of this approach is that it typically requires 100 trials or more to yield accurate (i.e., small bias) and precise (i.e., small variance) psychometric parameter estimates. We show that confidence probability judgments combined with a model of confidence can yield psychometric parameter estimates that are markedly more precise and/or markedly more efficient than conventional methods. Specifically, both human data and simulations show that including confidence probability judgments for just 20 trials can yield psychometric parameter estimates that match the precision of those obtained from 100 trials using conventional analyses. Such an efficiency advantage would be especially beneficial for tasks (e.g., taste, smell, and vestibular assays) that require more than a few seconds for each trial, but this potential benefit could accrue for many other tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongwoo Yi
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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25
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Karmali F, Chaudhuri SE, Yi Y, Merfeld DM. Determining thresholds using adaptive procedures and psychometric fits: evaluating efficiency using theory, simulations, and human experiments. Exp Brain Res 2015; 234:773-89. [PMID: 26645306 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-015-4501-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2015] [Accepted: 11/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
When measuring thresholds, careful selection of stimulus amplitude can increase efficiency by increasing the precision of psychometric fit parameters (e.g., decreasing the fit parameter error bars). To find efficient adaptive algorithms for psychometric threshold ("sigma") estimation, we combined analytic approaches, Monte Carlo simulations, and human experiments for a one-interval, binary forced-choice, direction-recognition task. To our knowledge, this is the first time analytic results have been combined and compared with either simulation or human results. Human performance was consistent with theory and not significantly different from simulation predictions. Our analytic approach provides a bound on efficiency, which we compared against the efficiency of standard staircase algorithms, a modified staircase algorithm with asymmetric step sizes, and a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) procedure. Simulation results suggest that optimal efficiency at determining threshold is provided by the MLE procedure targeting a fraction correct level of 0.92, an asymmetric 4-down, 1-up staircase targeting between 0.86 and 0.92 or a standard 6-down, 1-up staircase. Psychometric test efficiency, computed by comparing simulation and analytic results, was between 41 and 58% for 50 trials for these three algorithms, reaching up to 84% for 200 trials. These approaches were 13-21% more efficient than the commonly used 3-down, 1-up symmetric staircase. We also applied recent advances to reduce accuracy errors using a bias-reduced fitting approach. Taken together, the results lend confidence that the assumptions underlying each approach are reasonable and that human threshold forced-choice decision making is modeled well by detection theory models and mimics simulations based on detection theory models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA. .,Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Shomesh E Chaudhuri
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA.,Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Yongwoo Yi
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA.,Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA.,Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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26
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The left visual field attentional advantage: No evidence of different speeds of processing across visual hemifields. Conscious Cogn 2015; 37:16-26. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2015] [Revised: 07/20/2015] [Accepted: 08/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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27
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García-Pérez MA, Alcalá-Quintana R. Visual and Auditory Components in the Perception of Asynchronous Audiovisual Speech. Iperception 2015; 6:2041669515615735. [PMID: 27551361 PMCID: PMC4975115 DOI: 10.1177/2041669515615735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on asynchronous audiovisual speech perception manipulates experimental conditions to observe their effects on synchrony judgments. Probabilistic models establish a link between the sensory and decisional processes underlying such judgments and the observed data, via interpretable parameters that allow testing hypotheses and making inferences about how experimental manipulations affect such processes. Two models of this type have recently been proposed, one based on independent channels and the other using a Bayesian approach. Both models are fitted here to a common data set, with a subsequent analysis of the interpretation they provide about how experimental manipulations affected the processes underlying perceived synchrony. The data consist of synchrony judgments as a function of audiovisual offset in a speech stimulus, under four within-subjects manipulations of the quality of the visual component. The Bayesian model could not accommodate asymmetric data, was rejected by goodness-of-fit statistics for 8/16 observers, and was found to be nonidentifiable, which renders uninterpretable parameter estimates. The independent-channels model captured asymmetric data, was rejected for only 1/16 observers, and identified how sensory and decisional processes mediating asynchronous audiovisual speech perception are affected by manipulations that only alter the quality of the visual component of the speech signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A García-Pérez
- Departamento de Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rocío Alcalá-Quintana
- Departamento de Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
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28
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Rosenblatt SD, Crane BT. Influence of Visual Motion, Suggestion, and Illusory Motion on Self-Motion Perception in the Horizontal Plane. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0142109. [PMID: 26536235 PMCID: PMC4633239 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2015] [Accepted: 10/16/2015] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
A moving visual field can induce the feeling of self-motion or vection. Illusory motion from static repeated asymmetric patterns creates a compelling visual motion stimulus, but it is unclear if such illusory motion can induce a feeling of self-motion or alter self-motion perception. In these experiments, human subjects reported the perceived direction of self-motion for sway translation and yaw rotation at the end of a period of viewing set visual stimuli coordinated with varying inertial stimuli. This tested the hypothesis that illusory visual motion would influence self-motion perception in the horizontal plane. Trials were arranged into 5 blocks based on stimulus type: moving star field with yaw rotation, moving star field with sway translation, illusory motion with yaw, illusory motion with sway, and static arrows with sway. Static arrows were used to evaluate the effect of cognitive suggestion on self-motion perception. Each trial had a control condition; the illusory motion controls were altered versions of the experimental image, which removed the illusory motion effect. For the moving visual stimulus, controls were carried out in a dark room. With the arrow visual stimulus, controls were a gray screen. In blocks containing a visual stimulus there was an 8s viewing interval with the inertial stimulus occurring over the final 1s. This allowed measurement of the visual illusion perception using objective methods. When no visual stimulus was present, only the 1s motion stimulus was presented. Eight women and five men (mean age 37) participated. To assess for a shift in self-motion perception, the effect of each visual stimulus on the self-motion stimulus (cm/s) at which subjects were equally likely to report motion in either direction was measured. Significant effects were seen for moving star fields for both translation (p = 0.001) and rotation (p<0.001), and arrows (p = 0.02). For the visual motion stimuli, inertial motion perception was shifted in the direction consistent with the visual stimulus. Arrows had a small effect on self-motion perception driven by a minority of subjects. There was no significant effect of illusory motion on self-motion perception for either translation or rotation (p>0.1 for both). Thus, although a true moving visual field can induce self-motion, results of this study show that illusory motion does not.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven David Rosenblatt
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, United States of America
| | - Benjamin Thomas Crane
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, United States of America
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, United States of America
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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29
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Bradman MJ, Ferrini F, Salio C, Merighi A. Practical mechanical threshold estimation in rodents using von Frey hairs/Semmes–Weinstein monofilaments: Towards a rational method. J Neurosci Methods 2015; 255:92-103. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2015.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2015] [Revised: 08/06/2015] [Accepted: 08/07/2015] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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30
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Merfeld DM, Clark TK, Lu YM, Karmali F. Dynamics of individual perceptual decisions. J Neurophysiol 2015; 115:39-59. [PMID: 26467513 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00225.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2015] [Accepted: 10/13/2015] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Perceptual decision making is fundamental to a broad range of fields including neurophysiology, economics, medicine, advertising, law, etc. Although recent findings have yielded major advances in our understanding of perceptual decision making, decision making as a function of time and frequency (i.e., decision-making dynamics) is not well understood. To limit the review length, we focus most of this review on human findings. Animal findings, which are extensively reviewed elsewhere, are included when beneficial or necessary. We attempt to put these various findings and data sets, which can appear to be unrelated in the absence of a formal dynamic analysis, into context using published models. Specifically, by adding appropriate dynamic mechanisms (e.g., high-pass filters) to existing models, it appears that a number of otherwise seemingly disparate findings from the literature might be explained. One hypothesis that arises through this dynamic analysis is that decision making includes phasic (high pass) neural mechanisms, an evidence accumulator and/or some sort of midtrial decision-making mechanism (e.g., peak detector and/or decision boundary).
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and
| | - Torin K Clark
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and
| | - Yue M Lu
- Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and
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García-Pérez MA, Peli E. Aniseikonia Tests: The Role of Viewing Mode, Response Bias, and Size-Color Illusions. Transl Vis Sci Technol 2015; 4:9. [PMID: 26101722 DOI: 10.1167/tvst.4.3.9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2015] [Accepted: 04/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To identify the factors responsible for the poor validity of the most common aniseikonia tests, which involve size comparisons of red-green stimuli presented haploscopically. METHODS Aniseikonia was induced by afocal size lenses placed before one eye. Observers compared the sizes of semicircles presented haploscopically via color filters. The main factor under study was viewing mode (free viewing versus short presentations under central fixation). To eliminate response bias, a three-response format allowed observers to respond if the left, the right, or neither semicircle appeared larger than the other. To control decisional (criterion) bias, measurements were taken with the lens-magnified stimulus placed on the left and on the right. To control for size-color illusions, measurements were made with color filters in both arrangements before the eyes and under binocular vision (without color filters). RESULTS Free viewing resulted in a systematic underestimation of lens-induced aniseikonia that was absent with short presentations. Significant size-color illusions and decisional biases were found that would be mistaken for aniseikonia unless appropriate action is taken. CONCLUSIONS To improve their validity, aniseikonia tests should use short presentations and include control conditions to prevent contamination from decisional/response biases. If anaglyphs are used, presence of size-color illusions must be checked for. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE We identified optimal conditions for administration of aniseikonia tests and appropriate action for differential diagnosis of aniseikonia in the presence of response biases or size-color illusions. Our study has clinical implications for aniseikonia management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A García-Pérez
- Departamento de Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense, Campus de Somosaguas, Madrid, Spain
| | - Eli Peli
- The Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Converging evidence that common timing processes underlie temporal-order and simultaneity judgments: a model-based analysis. Atten Percept Psychophys 2015; 77:1750-66. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-015-0869-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Linares D, Holcombe AO. Differences in perceptual latency estimated from judgments of temporal order, simultaneity and duration are inconsistent. Iperception 2014; 5:559-71. [PMID: 26034565 PMCID: PMC4441030 DOI: 10.1068/i0675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2014] [Revised: 08/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Differences in perceptual latency (ΔL) for two stimuli, such as an auditory and a visual stimulus, can be estimated from temporal order judgments (TOJ) and simultaneity judgments (SJ), but previous research has found evidence that ΔL estimated from these tasks do not coincide. Here, using an auditory and a visual stimulus we confirmed this and further show that ΔL as estimated from duration judgments also does not coincide with ΔL estimated from TOJ or SJ. These inconsistencies suggest that each judgment is subject to different processes that bias ΔL in different ways: TOJ might be affected by sensory interactions, a bias associated with the method of single stimuli and an order difficulty bias; SJ by sensory interactions and an asymmetrical criterion bias; duration judgments by an order duration bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Linares
- Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France; e-mail:
| | - Alex O Holcombe
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; e-mail:
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Abstract
Class A psychophysical observations are based on the linking hypothesis that perceptually distinguishable stimuli must correspond to different brain events. Class B observations are related to the appearance of stimuli not their discriminability. There is no clear linking hypothesis underlying Class B observations, but they are necessary for studying the effects of context on appearance, including a large class of phenomena known as “illusions.” Class B observations are necessarily measures of observer bias (Fechner’s “constant error”) as opposed to Class A measures of sensitivity (Fechner’s “variable error”). It is therefore important that Class B observations distinguish between response biases, decisional biases, and perceptual biases. This review argues that the commonly used method of single stimuli fails to do this, and that multiple-alternative forced choice (mAFC) methods can do a better job, particularly if combined with a roving pedestal.
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The influence of head and body tilt on human fore-aft translation perception. Exp Brain Res 2014; 232:3897-905. [PMID: 25160866 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-014-4060-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2014] [Accepted: 07/31/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The tilt-translation ambiguity occurs because acceleration due to translation cannot be differentiated from gravitational acceleration. Head tilt can occur independent of body tilt which further complicates the problem. The tilt-translation ambiguity is examined for fore-aft (surge) translation with head and/or body orientations that are tilted in pitch 10° forward or backward. Eleven human subjects (six female), mean age 40 years participated. Conditions included no tilt (NT), head and body tilt (HBT), head only tilt (HOT), and body only tilt (BOT). The fore-aft stimulus consisted of a 2 s (0.5 Hz) sine wave in acceleration which a maximum peak velocity of 10 cm/s. After each stimulus, the subject reported the direction of motion as forward or backward. Subsequent stimuli were adjusted to determine the point at which subjects were equally likely to report motion in either direction. During the HBT, responses were biased such that upward pitch caused a neutral stimulus to be more likely to be perceived as forward and downward pitch caused the stimulus to be more likely to be perceived as backward. The difference in the point of subjective equality based on the direction of tilt was 3.3 cm/s. During the BOT condition, the bias with respect to the direction of body tilt was in a similar direction with a difference in PSE 1.6 cm/s. During HOT and NT, there was no significant bias on fore-aft perception. These findings demonstrate that body tilt shifts the PSE of fore-aft direction discrimination while head tilt has no influence.
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Sridharan D, Steinmetz NA, Moore T, Knudsen EI. Distinguishing bias from sensitivity effects in multialternative detection tasks. J Vis 2014; 14:16. [PMID: 25146574 PMCID: PMC4141865 DOI: 10.1167/14.9.16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2013] [Accepted: 06/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies investigating the neural bases of cognitive phenomena increasingly employ multialternative detection tasks that seek to measure the ability to detect a target stimulus or changes in some target feature (e.g., orientation or direction of motion) that could occur at one of many locations. In such tasks, it is essential to distinguish the behavioral and neural correlates of enhanced perceptual sensitivity from those of increased bias for a particular location or choice (choice bias). However, making such a distinction is not possible with established approaches. We present a new signal detection model that decouples the behavioral effects of choice bias from those of perceptual sensitivity in multialternative (change) detection tasks. By formulating the perceptual decision in a multidimensional decision space, our model quantifies the respective contributions of bias and sensitivity to multialternative behavioral choices. With a combination of analytical and numerical approaches, we demonstrate an optimal, one-to-one mapping between model parameters and choice probabilities even for tasks involving arbitrarily large numbers of alternatives. We validated the model with published data from two ternary choice experiments: a target-detection experiment and a length-discrimination experiment. The results of this validation provided novel insights into perceptual processes (sensory noise and competitive interactions) that can accurately and parsimoniously account for observers' behavior in each task. The model will find important application in identifying and interpreting the effects of behavioral manipulations (e.g., cueing attention) or neural perturbations (e.g., stimulation or inactivation) in a variety of multialternative tasks of perception, attention, and decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devarajan Sridharan
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas A. Steinmetz
- Department of Neurobiology and Program in Neurosciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Tirin Moore
- Department of Neurobiology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Eric I. Knudsen
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
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Abstract
Bisection tasks are used in research on normal space and time perception and to assess the perceptual distortions accompanying neurological disorders. Several variants of the bisection task are used, which often yield inconsistent results, prompting the question of which variant is most dependable and which results are to be trusted. We addressed this question using theoretical and experimental approaches. Theoretical performance in bisection tasks is derived from a general model of psychophysical performance that includes sensory components and decisional processes. The model predicts how performance should differ across variants of the task, even when the sensory component is fixed. To test these predictions, data were collected in a within-subjects study with several variants of a spatial bisection task, including a two-response variant in which observers indicated whether a line was transected to the right or left of the midpoint, a three-response variant (which included the additional option to respond "midpoint"), and a paired-comparison variant of the three-response format. The data supported the model predictions, revealing that estimated bisection points were least dependable with the two-response variant, because this format confounds perceptual and decisional influences. Only the three-response paired-comparison format can separate out these influences. Implications for research in basic and clinical fields are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A García-Pérez
- Departamento de Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense, Campus de Somosaguas, 28223, Madrid, Spain,
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García-Pérez MA. Does time ever fly or slow down? The difficult interpretation of psychophysical data on time perception. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:415. [PMID: 24959133 PMCID: PMC4051264 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2014] [Accepted: 05/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Time perception is studied with subjective or semi-objective psychophysical methods. With subjective methods, observers provide quantitative estimates of duration and data depict the psychophysical function relating subjective duration to objective duration. With semi-objective methods, observers provide categorical or comparative judgments of duration and data depict the psychometric function relating the probability of a certain judgment to objective duration. Both approaches are used to study whether subjective and objective time run at the same pace or whether time flies or slows down under certain conditions. We analyze theoretical aspects affecting the interpretation of data gathered with the most widely used semi-objective methods, including single-presentation and paired-comparison methods. For this purpose, a formal model of psychophysical performance is used in which subjective duration is represented via a psychophysical function and the scalar property. This provides the timing component of the model, which is invariant across methods. A decisional component that varies across methods reflects how observers use subjective durations to make judgments and give the responses requested under each method. Application of the model shows that psychometric functions in single-presentation methods are uninterpretable because the various influences on observed performance are inextricably confounded in the data. In contrast, data gathered with paired-comparison methods permit separating out those influences. Prevalent approaches to fitting psychometric functions to data are also discussed and shown to be inconsistent with widely accepted principles of time perception, implicitly assuming instead that subjective time equals objective time and that observed differences across conditions do not reflect differences in perceived duration but criterion shifts. These analyses prompt evidence-based recommendations for best methodological practice in studies on time perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A. García-Pérez
- Departamento de Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad ComplutenseMadrid, Spain
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Benwell CSY, Thut G, Grant A, Harvey M. A rightward shift in the visuospatial attention vector with healthy aging. Front Aging Neurosci 2014; 6:113. [PMID: 24959142 PMCID: PMC4051195 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2014.00113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2014] [Accepted: 05/20/2014] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The study of lateralized visuospatial attention bias in non-clinical samples has revealed a systematic group-level leftward bias (pseudoneglect), possibly as a consequence of right hemisphere (RH) dominance for visuospatial attention. Pseudoneglect appears to be modulated by age, with a reduced or even reversed bias typically present in elderly participants. It has been suggested that this shift in bias may arise due to disproportionate aging of the RH and/or an increase in complementary functional recruitment of the left hemisphere (LH) for visuospatial processing. In this study, we report rightward shifts in subjective midpoint judgment relative to healthy young participants whilst elderly participants performed a computerized version of the landmark task (in which they had to judge whether a transection mark appeared closer to the right or left end of a line) on three different line lengths. This manipulation of stimulus properties led to a similar behavioral pattern in both the young and the elderly: a rightward shift in subjective midpoint with decreasing line length, which even resulted in a systematic rightward bias in elderly participants for the shortest line length (1.98° of visual angle, VA). Overall performance precision for the task was lower in the elderly participants regardless of line length, suggesting reduced landmark task discrimination sensitivity with healthy aging. This rightward shift in the attentional vector with healthy aging is likely to result from a reduction in RH resources/dominance for attentional processing in elderly participants. The significant rightward bias in the elderly for short lines may even suggest a reversal of hemisphere dominance in favor of the LH/right visual field under specific conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher S Y Benwell
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, School of Psychology, University of Glasgow Glasgow, UK ; School of Psychology, University of Glasgow Glasgow, UK
| | - Gregor Thut
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, School of Psychology, University of Glasgow Glasgow, UK
| | - Ashley Grant
- School of Psychology, University of Glasgow Glasgow, UK
| | - Monika Harvey
- School of Psychology, University of Glasgow Glasgow, UK
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40
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Abstract
Voluntary control of attention promotes intelligent, adaptive behaviors by enabling the selective processing of information that is most relevant for making decisions. Despite extensive research on attention in primates, the capacity for selective attention in nonprimate species has never been quantified. Here we demonstrate selective attention in chickens by applying protocols that have been used to characterize visual spatial attention in primates. Chickens were trained to localize and report the vertical position of a target in the presence of task-relevant distracters. A spatial cue, the location of which varied across individual trials, indicated the horizontal, but not vertical, position of the upcoming target. Spatial cueing improved localization performance: accuracy (d') increased and reaction times decreased in a space-specific manner. Distracters severely impaired perceptual performance, and this impairment was greatly reduced by spatial cueing. Signal detection analysis with an "indecision" model demonstrated that spatial cueing significantly increased choice certainty in localizing targets. By contrast, error-aversion certainty (certainty of not making an error) remained essentially constant across cueing protocols, target contrasts, and individuals. The results show that chickens shift spatial attention rapidly and dynamically, following principles of stimulus selection that closely parallel those documented in primates. The findings suggest that the mechanisms that control attention have been conserved through evolution, and establish chickens--a highly visual species that is easily trained and amenable to cutting-edge experimental technologies--as an attractive model for linking behavior to neural mechanisms of selective attention.
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Abstract
The traditional method of single stimuli for measuring perceptual illusions and context effects confounds perceptual effects with changes in the observer's decision criterion. By deciding consciously or unconsciously to select one of the two response alternatives more than the other when unsure of the correct response, the observer can shift his or her psychometric function in a manner indistinguishable from a genuine perceptual shift. Here, a spatial two-alternative forced-choice method is described to measure a perceptual aftereffect by its influence on the shape of the psychometric function rather than the mean. The method was tested by measuring the effect of motion adaptation on the apparent Vernier offset of stationary Gabor patterns. The shift due to adaptation was found to be comparable in size to the internal noise, estimated from the slope of the psychometric function. By moving the eyes between adaptation and test, it was determined that adaptation is retinotopic rather than spatiotopic.
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Affiliation(s)
- M J Morgan
- Max-Planck Institute for Neurological Research, Koeln, Germany
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42
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Karmali F, Lim K, Merfeld DM. Visual and vestibular perceptual thresholds each demonstrate better precision at specific frequencies and also exhibit optimal integration. J Neurophysiol 2013; 111:2393-403. [PMID: 24371292 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00332.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Prior studies show that visual motion perception is more precise than vestibular motion perception, but it is unclear whether this is universal or the result of specific experimental conditions. We compared visual and vestibular motion precision over a broad range of temporal frequencies by measuring thresholds for vestibular (subject motion in the dark), visual (visual scene motion) or visual-vestibular (subject motion in the light) stimuli. Specifically, thresholds were measured for motion frequencies spanning a two-decade physiological range (0.05-5 Hz) using single-cycle sinusoidal acceleration roll tilt trajectories (i.e., distinguishing left-side down from right-side down). We found that, while visual and vestibular thresholds were broadly similar between 0.05 and 5.0 Hz, each cue is significantly more precise than the other at certain frequencies. Specifically, we found that 1) visual and vestibular thresholds were indistinguishable at 0.05 Hz and 2 Hz (i.e., similarly precise); 2) visual thresholds were lower (i.e., vision more precise) than vestibular thresholds between 0.1 Hz and 1 Hz; and 3) visual thresholds were higher (i.e., vision less precise) than vestibular thresholds above 2 Hz. This shows that vestibular perception can be more precise than visual perception at physiologically relevant frequencies. We also found that sensory integration of visual and vestibular information is consistent with static Bayesian optimal integration of visual-vestibular cues. In contrast with most prior work that degraded or altered sensory cues, we demonstrated static optimal integration using natural cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Koeun Lim
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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Adaptive psychophysical methods for nonmonotonic psychometric functions. Atten Percept Psychophys 2013; 76:621-41. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-013-0574-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Chaudhuri SE, Karmali F, Merfeld DM. Whole body motion-detection tasks can yield much lower thresholds than direction-recognition tasks: implications for the role of vibration. J Neurophysiol 2013; 110:2764-72. [PMID: 24068754 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00091.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Earlier spatial orientation studies used both motion-detection (e.g., did I move?) and direction-recognition (e.g., did I move left/right?) paradigms. The purpose of our study was to compare thresholds measured with motion-detection and direction-recognition tasks on a standard Moog motion platform to see whether a substantial fraction of the reported threshold variation might be explained by the use of different discrimination tasks in the presence of vibrations that vary with motion. Thresholds for the perception of yaw rotation about an earth-vertical axis and for interaural translation in an earth-horizontal plane were determined for four healthy subjects with standard detection and recognition paradigms. For yaw rotation two-interval detection thresholds were, on average, 56 times smaller than two-interval recognition thresholds, and for interaural translation two-interval detection thresholds were, on average, 31 times smaller than two-interval recognition thresholds. This substantive difference between recognition thresholds and detection thresholds is one of our primary findings. For motions near our measured detection threshold, we measured vibrations that matched previously established vibration thresholds. This suggests that vibrations contribute to whole body motion detection. We also recorded yaw rotation thresholds on a second motion device with lower vibration and found direction-recognition and motion-detection thresholds that were not significantly different from one another or from the direction-recognition thresholds recorded on our Moog platform. Taken together, these various findings show that yaw rotation recognition thresholds are relatively unaffected by vibration when moderate (up to ≈ 0.08 m/s(2)) vibration cues are present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shomesh E Chaudhuri
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and
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Abstract
Prolonged adaptation to a stimulus, such as a drifting grating, lowers sensitivity for detecting similar stimuli, and changes their appearance, for example, making gratings of the same orientation appear of lower contrast and move more slowly. It has been suggested that adaptation is increased by sustained attention to the adapting stimulus and is decreased by distracting attention with a competing task. This paper describes a novel 2AFC (spatial) measure of adaptation in which adaptation and bias are carefully distinguished by the random interleaving of different test conditions. The experiment revealed significant adaptation of perceived velocity, but no effect of attentional distraction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Morgan
- Max-Planck Institute for Neurological Research, Köln, Germany.
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46
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On the discrepant results in synchrony judgment and temporal-order judgment tasks: a quantitative model. Psychon Bull Rev 2012; 19:820-46. [DOI: 10.3758/s13423-012-0278-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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