Inconsistent channel bandwidth estimates suggest winner-take-all nonlinearity in second-order vision
Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 14, 2026

How to Create and Use Binocular Rivalry
Published on: November 10, 2010
Zachary M Westrick1, Christopher A Henry, Michael S Landy
1Department of Psychology, New York University, USA.
Abstract:
The processing of texture patterns has been characterized by a model that postulates a first-stage linear filter to highlight a component texture, a pointwise rectification stage to convert contrast for the highlighted texture into mean response strength, followed by a second-stage linear filter to detect the texture-defined pattern. We estimated the spatial-frequency bandwidth of the second-stage filter mediating orientation discrimination of orientation-modulated second-order gratings by measuring threshold elevation in the presence of filtered noise added to the modulation signal. This experiment yielded no evidence for frequency tuning. A second experiment, in which subjects had to detect similar second-order gratings while judging their modulation frequency, produced bandwidth estimates of 1-1.5 octaves, similar to estimated bandwidths of first-order channels. We propose that an additional dominant-response-selection nonlinearity can account for these apparently contradictory results.
Related Concept Videos
Nonlinear Pharmacokinetics: Causes of Nonlinearity
Nonlinear drug absorption can occur when the process is rate-limited by solubility, carrier-mediated transport systems, or saturation of the presystemic gut wall or hepatic metabolism. For instance, high doses of riboflavin...
Color Vision
Difference from Background: Limit of Detection
The LOD indicates the presence or absence...
Linear Approximation in Frequency Domain
In contrast, nonlinear systems do not inherently possess these properties. However, for small deviations around an operating point, a nonlinear system can often be approximated as linear.
Linear Approximation in Time Domain
For a simple pendulum with a mass evenly distributed along its length and the center of mass located at half the pendulum's length, the...
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision
