Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Gestalt principles provide a framework for understanding how humans perceive objects as unified wholes within their context. These principles are essential in explaining the cognitive processes that make sense of complex visual stimuli by organizing them into coherent groups. One fundamental principle is proximity, which posits that objects located close to each other are perceived as a collective group. For instance, when dots are positioned near one another, the visual system interprets them...

Gauss's Law: Planar Symmetry

Gauss's Law: Planar Symmetry

A planar symmetry of charge density is obtained when charges are uniformly spread over a large flat surface. In planar symmetry, all points in a plane parallel to the plane of charge are identical with respect to the charges. Suppose the plane of the charge distribution is the xy-plane, and the electric field at a space point P with coordinates (x, y, z) is to be determined. Since the charge density is the same at all (x, y) - coordinates in the z = 0 plane, by symmetry, the electric field at P...

Properties of Fourier series II

Properties of Fourier series II

Time scaling of signals is a crucial concept in signal processing that affects the Fourier series representation without altering its coefficients. The process modifies the fundamental frequency, thereby changing how the series represents the signal over time. This principle is essential in various applications, including audio and image processing, where signal manipulation is frequent. Understanding function symmetries is fundamental to simplifying the Fourier series.
A function f(t) is...

Symmetry in Maxwell's Equations

Symmetry in Maxwell's Equations

Once the fields have been calculated using Maxwell's four equations, the Lorentz force equation gives the force that the fields exert on a charged particle moving with a certain velocity. The Lorentz force equation combines the force of the electric field and of the magnetic field on the moving charge. Maxwell's equations and the Lorentz force law together encompass all the laws of electricity and magnetism. The symmetry that Maxwell introduced into his mathematical framework may not be...

Symmetry

Symmetry

The equation of an ellipse centered at the origin defines all points whose distances from the center maintain a constant ratio between the horizontal and vertical axes. This equation results in a smooth, closed curve that extends further along the x-axis than the y-axis, giving it a horizontal orientation. Such an ellipse demonstrates three kinds of symmetry: across the x-axis, across the y-axis, and about the origin. These symmetries are essential in understanding the graph's structure and...

Gauss's Law: Spherical Symmetry

Gauss's Law: Spherical Symmetry

A charge distribution has spherical symmetry if the density of charge depends only on the distance from a point in space and not on the direction. In other words, if the system is rotated, it doesn't look different. For instance, if a sphere of radius R is uniformly charged with charge density ρ0, then the distribution has spherical symmetry. On the other hand, if a sphere of radius R is charged so that the top half of the sphere has a uniform charge density ρ1 and the bottom half has a uniform...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Dubious Claims about Simplicity and Likelihood: Comment on Pinna and Conti (2019).

Brain sciences·2020

Same author

On Bayesian Simplicity in Human Visual Perceptual Organization.

Perception·2017

Same author

Human visual perceptual organization beats thinking on speed.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2017

Same author

A group theoretical model of symmetry cognition.

Acta psychologica·2016

Same author

Structural coding versus free-energy predictive coding.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2015

Same author

A cognitive architecture account of the visual local advantage phenomenon in autism spectrum disorders.

Vision research·2015

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Generating Strictly Controlled Stimuli for Figure Recognition Experiments

Generating Strictly Controlled Stimuli for Figure Recognition Experiments

Published on: March 18, 2019

Weber-Fechner behavior in symmetry perception?

Peter A van der Helm¹

¹Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. p.vanderhelm@donders.ru.nl

Attention, Perception & Psychophysics

|October 19, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Detecting symmetry with noise follows a new psychophysical law, differing from the Weber-Fechner law. Sensitivity to symmetry detection is disproportionally higher in moderate noise levels.

More Related Videos

Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion

Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion

Published on: January 15, 2016

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments

Published on: March 1, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Generating Strictly Controlled Stimuli for Figure Recognition Experiments

Generating Strictly Controlled Stimuli for Figure Recognition Experiments

Published on: March 18, 2019

Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion

Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion

Published on: January 15, 2016

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments

Published on: March 1, 2022

Area of Science:

Psychology
Perception
Visual processing

Background:

The Weber-Fechner law typically describes perception of first-order structures.
Previous literature suggests this law may apply to symmetry detection under noisy conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose a novel psychophysical law for detecting symmetry in noisy visual stimuli.
To investigate how the regularity-to-noise ratio influences symmetry perception.

Main Methods:

Theoretical analysis of symmetry detection in the presence of noise.
Comparison of proposed law with the Weber-Fechner law.
Consideration of Glass patterns as a relevant stimulus type.

Main Results:

Symmetry detection in noise is governed by a psychophysical law distinct from the Weber-Fechner law.
The regularity-to-noise ratio serves as the critical signal strength indicator.
Sensitivity to changes in this ratio is amplified in intermediate noise ranges.

Conclusions:

The perception of higher-order structures like symmetry in noise does not strictly adhere to the Weber-Fechner law.
A new model is proposed where sensitivity peaks at moderate noise levels, deviating from traditional psychophysical scaling.