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Related Concept Videos

Color Vision01:24

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Color perception begins in the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. Two main theories explain how colors are seen: the trichromatic theory and the opponent-process theory. The trichromatic theory, proposed by Thomas Young in 1802 and extended by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1852, suggests that color vision is based on three types of cone receptors in the retina. These cones are sensitive to different but overlapping ranges of wavelengths corresponding to red, blue, and green.
Perceptual Constancy01:12

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Related Experiment Video

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Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments
13:00

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Published on: January 23, 2017

Voluntary attention enhances contrast appearance.

Taosheng Liu1, Jared Abrams, Marisa Carrasco

  • 1Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. tsliu@msu.edu

Psychological Science
|March 4, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Voluntary spatial attention enhances the subjective perception of visual contrast. This finding reveals how attention alters visual experience and links behavioral and neural studies.

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Area of Science:

  • Visual perception
  • Cognitive neuroscience
  • Attention studies

Background:

  • Voluntary spatial attention prioritizes sensory information processing.
  • The subjective (phenomenological) effects of attention are under-investigated.
  • Contrast is a fundamental visual perception dimension.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if voluntary attention modulates the subjective appearance of visual contrast.
  • To link phenomenological effects with behavioral and neural findings of attention.

Main Methods:

  • Used a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task to direct endogenous attention.
  • Measured perceived contrast at attended and unattended visual locations.
  • Included a concurrent orientation discrimination task to assess attentional effects.

Main Results:

  • Voluntary attention significantly increased perceived contrast for suprathreshold stimuli.
  • Attentional enhancement of perceived contrast was observed.
  • Performance on a concurrent orientation discrimination task improved at the cued location.

Conclusions:

  • Voluntary attention enhances the subjective perception of visual contrast.
  • This phenomenological consequence provides a link between behavioral and neurophysiological studies of attention.
  • Attention demonstrably alters fundamental aspects of visual experience.