The absolute efficiency of perceptual decisions.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Neuroscience
• Sensory physiology

Background:

• Human perception generally provides stable and reliable interpretations of the external world.
• The mechanisms underlying perceptual reliability are debated: are they insensitive, or do they employ statistical filtering?

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficiency of statistical information processing in human perception.
• To determine if the visual system utilizes statistical information to maintain perceptual stability.

Main Methods:

• Measuring the efficiency of statistical information utilization in perception.
• Presenting participants with visual displays of random dots containing subtle mirror symmetry.
• Quantifying the ability to detect this symmetry.

Main Results:

• The human visual system can detect mirror symmetry in random dot displays with up to 50% efficiency.
• This demonstrates a high degree of sensitivity and sophisticated statistical processing in sensory mechanisms.

Conclusions:

• The reliability of perception stems from efficient statistical mechanisms, not insensitivity.
• Sensory physiology and psychology related to statistical information processing warrant further investigation.