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Norman JF, Lewis JL, Bryant EN, Conn JD. Aging and temporal integration in the visual perception of object shape. Sci Rep 2023; 13:12748. [PMID: 37550419 PMCID: PMC10406914 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40068-x] [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: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
It has been known for more than 160 years that highly occluded objects that would normally be visually unrecognizable can be successfully identified when they move. This anorthoscopic perception relies on the visual system's ability to integrate information over time to complete the perception of an entire object's shape. In this experiment, 16 younger and older adults (mean ages were 20.5 and 74.6 years, respectively) were familiarized with the (unoccluded) shapes of five naturally-shaped objects (bell peppers, Capsicum annuum) until they could be easily identified (i.e., with accuracies of at least 90 percent correct). All observers then viewed the stimulus objects anorthoscopically as they moved behind narrow slits; only small object fragments could be seen at any given time, because the objects were almost totally occluded from view. Even though the object identification performance for all observers was equivalent when whole object shapes were visible, a large age-related deficit in object identification emerged during anorthoscopic viewing such that the younger adults' identification performance was 45.4 percent higher than that of the older adults. This first ever study of aging and anorthoscopic perception demonstrates that there is an age-related deficit in performing the temporal integration needed for successful object recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Farley Norman
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #22030, Bowling Green, KY, 42101-2030, USA.
- Center for Applied Science in Health and Aging, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, 42101-2030, USA.
| | - Jessica L Lewis
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #22030, Bowling Green, KY, 42101-2030, USA
| | - Emily N Bryant
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #22030, Bowling Green, KY, 42101-2030, USA
| | - Juma D Conn
- Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science, Bowling Green, KY, USA
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Norman JF, Baig M, Graham JD, Lewis JL. Aging and the detection of moving objects defined by common fate. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20811. [PMID: 36460782 PMCID: PMC9718786 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25456-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Grouping by common fate plays an important role in how human observers perceive environmental objects. In this study, the effect of aging upon the ability to utilize common fate was evaluated. Twenty-two younger and older adults (mean ages were 23.4 and 74.7 years, respectively) participated in two experiments. On any given trial, the participants sequentially viewed two apparent motion sequences and were required to indicate which temporal interval contained a coherently moving dotted line embedded in noisy random background motion. In Experiment 1, the number of dots defining the target was varied, while in Experiment 2, the target interpoint spacing was varied. The younger adults outperformed the older adults by 19.4 percent in Experiment 1 and 50.5 percent in Experiment 2. The older and younger adults were similarly affected by variations in the number of target dots and the target interpoint spacing. The individual older participants' object detection accuracies were highly correlated with their individual chronological ages, such that the performance of the younger old participants was much higher than that exhibited by the older old. Increases in age systematically affect the ability of older adults to detect and visually perceive objects defined by common fate.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Farley Norman
- grid.268184.10000 0001 2286 2224Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #22030, Bowling Green, KY 42101-2030 USA ,grid.268184.10000 0001 2286 2224Center for Applied Science in Health and Aging, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101-2030 USA
| | - Maheen Baig
- grid.268184.10000 0001 2286 2224Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101-2030 USA
| | - Jiali D. Graham
- Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science, Bowling Green, KY USA
| | - Jessica L. Lewis
- grid.268184.10000 0001 2286 2224Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #22030, Bowling Green, KY 42101-2030 USA
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Norman JF, Baig M, Eaton JR, Graham JD, Vincent TE. Aging and the visual perception of object size. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17148. [PMID: 36229476 PMCID: PMC9561717 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22141-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
An experiment evaluated the ability of 30 younger and older adults to visually judge object size under three conditions: (1) full cue, (2) in the dark, with linear perspective, and (3) in complete darkness. Each observer made repeated judgments for the same square stimuli (the task was to adjust a separation until it matched the perceived size of the squares), enabling an evaluation of precision as well as accuracy. The judgments were just as accurate in the dark with linear perspective condition as in the full cue condition, indicating that linear perspective serves as an important source of optical information to support the perception of object size). In contrast, in complete darkness (where linear perspective information was unavailable), the accuracy of the observers' judgments was poor. Finally, there was no difference in either the accuracy or the precision of the observers' judgments between the two age groups, despite the fact that the older adults were more than 50 years older than the younger adults (mean age of the younger and older adults was 22.3 and 74.1 years, respectively). The ability to visually perceive object size is well maintained with increasing age, unlike a number of other important visual abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Farley Norman
- grid.268184.10000 0001 2286 2224Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #22030, Bowling Green, KY 42101-2030 USA ,grid.268184.10000 0001 2286 2224Center for Applied Science in Health and Aging, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101-2030 USA
| | - Maheen Baig
- grid.268184.10000 0001 2286 2224Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #22030, Bowling Green, KY 42101-2030 USA
| | - Jerica R. Eaton
- grid.268184.10000 0001 2286 2224Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #22030, Bowling Green, KY 42101-2030 USA
| | - Jiali D. Graham
- Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science, Bowling Green, KY USA
| | - Taylor E. Vincent
- grid.268184.10000 0001 2286 2224Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #22030, Bowling Green, KY 42101-2030 USA
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Norman JF, Dukes JM, Shapiro HK, Peterson AE. The Visual Perception of Large-Scale Distances Outdoors. Perception 2020; 49:968-977. [PMID: 32781885 DOI: 10.1177/0301006620948503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The ability of 32 younger (ages ranged from 19 to 32 years) and older adults (ages ranged from 65 to 83 years) to visually perceive outdoor distances was evaluated; we used the method of equal-appearing intervals. On any given trial, the observers adjusted five distance intervals in depth so that they all appeared equivalent in magnitude (and equal to a standard initial egocentric distance of 6 m). The judgments of approximately two thirds of the younger and older observers exhibited varying degrees of perceptual compression, while those of the remaining one third were essentially accurate. Unlike a number of previous studies that evaluated the perception of shorter distances, no significant effects of age were obtained in the current experiment. In particular, there were no significant effects of age upon either accuracy or precision. The ability of human observers to evaluate large-scale distances outdoors is well maintained with increasing age.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Farley Norman
- Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, United States.,Center for Applied Science in Health and Aging, Western Kentucky University, United States
| | - Jessica M Dukes
- Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, United States
| | - Hannah K Shapiro
- Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, United States
| | - Ashley E Peterson
- Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, United States
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Norman JF, Higginbotham AJ. Aging and the perception of global structure. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0233786. [PMID: 32469998 PMCID: PMC7259570 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 05/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
A single experiment required 40 younger and older adults to discriminate global shape as depicted by Glass patterns (concentric and radial organizations). Such patterns have been widely used for decades, because in order to successfully perceive the depicted shape, the visual system has to detect both locally oriented features (dipoles) and their alignments across extended regions of space. In the current study, we manipulated the number of constituent dipoles in the stimulus patterns (40 or 200), the noise-to-signal ratio (zero, 1.0, & 5.0), and the pattern size (6.0 & 25.0 degrees visual angle). The observers’ shape discrimination accuracies (d’ values) decreased markedly as the amount of noise increased, and there were smaller (but significant) effects of both overall pattern size and the number of stimulus dipoles. Interestingly, while there was a significant effect of age, it was relatively small: the overall d’ values for older and younger adults were 2.07 and 2.34, respectively. Older adults therefore retain an effective ability to visually perceive global shape, even for sparsely-defined patterns embedded in noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Farley Norman
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States of America
- Center for Applied Science in Health and Aging, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Norman JF, Sanders KN, Shapiro HK, Peterson AE. Aging and the Perception of Motion-Defined Form. Perception 2019; 49:52-60. [DOI: 10.1177/0301006619887331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
A single experiment required 26 younger and older adults to discriminate global shape as defined only by differences in the speed of stimulus element rotation. Detection of the target shape required successful perceptual grouping by common fate. A considerable adverse effect of age was found: In order to perceive the target and discriminate its shape with a d’ value of 1.5, the older observers needed target element rotational speeds that were 23.4% faster than those required for younger adults. In addition, as the difference between the rotation speeds of the background and target stimulus elements increased, the performance of the older observers improved at a rate that was only about half of that exhibited by the younger observers. The results indicate that while older adults can perceive global shape defined by similarity (and differences) in rotational speed, their abilities are nevertheless significantly compromised.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Farley Norman
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, USA; Center for Applied Science in Health & Aging, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, USA
| | - Karli N. Sanders
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, USA
| | - Hannah K. Shapiro
- Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science, Bowling Green, KY, USA
| | - Ashley E. Peterson
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, USA
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Kunchulia M, Kotaria N, Pilz K, Kotorashvili A, Herzog MH. Associations between genetic variations and global motion perception. Exp Brain Res 2019; 237:2729-2734. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-019-05627-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
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Affiliation(s)
- Jutta Billino
- Abteilung Allgemeine Psychologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Gießen, Germany
| | - Karin S. Pilz
- Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
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