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P*h
mi
© 1999 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, record¬
ing, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing
from the publisher.

This book was set in Baskerville by Asco Typesetters, Hong Kong, and
was printed and bound in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Palmer, Stephen E.
Vision science—photons to phenomenology / Stephen E. Palmer,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-262-16183-4
1. Vision. 2. Visual perception. 3. Cognitive science.
I. Title.
QP475.P24 1999
612.8'4—dc21 99-11785
CIP
In loving memory of my mentor, colleague, and
friend, Irvin Rock (1922—1995), who taught me
more about visual perception than everyone else
combined and who showed me by example what
it means to be a scientist.
Preface xvii

I Foundations 1

1 An Introduction to Vision Science 3

2 Theoretical Approaches to Vision 45
3 Color Vision: A Microcosm of Vision
Science 94

II Spatial Vision 143

4 Processing Image Structure 145

5 Perceiving Surfaces Oriented in
Depth 199

6 Organizing Objects and Scenes 254

7 Perceiving Object Properties and
Parts 311

8 Representing Shape and Structure 362

9 Perceiving Function and Category 408

III Visual Dynamics 463

10 Perceiving Motion and Events 465
11 Visual Selection: Eye Movements and
Attention 519

12 Visual Memory and Imagery 572

13 Visual Awareness 615

Appendix A: Psychophysical
Methods 665

Appendix B: Connectionist Modeling 675

Appendix C: Color Technology 689
 Glossary 701
References 737
Name Index 771
Subject Index 780

Brief Contents
Contents
I Foundations 1

1 An Introduction to Vision Science 3

1.1 Visual Perception 5
1.1.1 Defining Visual Perception 5
1.1.2 The Evolutionary Utility of Vision 6
1.1.3 Perception as a Constructive Act 7
Adaptation and Aftereffects 7
Reality and Illusion 7
Ambiguous Figures 9
1.1.4 Perception as Modeling the
Environment 10
Visual Completion 10
Impossible Objects 11
Predicting the Future 12
1.1.5 Perception as Apprehension of Meaning 13
Classification 13
Attention and Consciousness 13
1.2 Optical Information 15
1.2.1 The Behavior of Light 15
Illumination 15
Interaction with Surfaces 16
The Ambient Optic Array 18
1.2.2 The Formation of Images 19
Optical Images 20
Projective Geometry 20
Perspective and Orthographic
Projection 21
1.2.3 Vision as an “Inverse” Problem 23
1.3 Visual Systems 24
1.3.1 The Human Eye 24
Eye and Brain 24
Anatomy of the Eye 25
Physiological Optics 26
1.3.2 The Retina 28
Neurons 28
Photoreceptors 29
Peculiarities of Retinal Design 33
Pathways to the Brain 35
1.3.3 Visual Cortex 35
Localization of Function 35
Occipital Cortex 37
Parietal and Temporal Cortex 38
Mapping Visual Cortex 39
 The Physiological Pathways 3 Color Vision: A Microcosm of Vision
Hypothesis 42 Science 94
3.1 The Computational Description of Color
2 Theoretical Approaches to Vision 45 Perception 96
2.1 Classical Theories of Vision 47 3.1.1 The Physical Description of Light 96
2.1.1 Structuralism 48 3.1.2 The Psychological Description of Color 97
2.1.2 Gestaltism 50 Color Space 97
Holism 50 Hue 98
Psychophysiological Isomorphism 51 Saturation 98
2.1.3 Ecological Optics 53 Lightness 98
Analyzing Stimulus Structure 53 Lightness versus Brightness 99
Direct Perception 54 3.1.3 The Psychophysical Correspondence 99
2.1.4 Constructivism 55 3.2 Image-Based Color Processing 101
Unconscious Inference 56 3.2.1 Basic Phenomena 101
Heuristic Interpretation 57 Light Mixture 101
2.2 A Brief History of Information Processing 59 Color Blindness 104
2.2.1 Computer Vision 59 Color Afterimages 105
The Invention of Computers 59 Simultaneous Color Contrast 106
Blocks World 60 Chromatic Adaptation 107
Computational Approaches to Ecological 3.2.2 Theories of Color Vision 107
Optics 61 Trichromatic Theory 107
Connectionism and Neural Networks 62 Opponent Process Theory 108
2.2.2 Information Processing Psychology 63 Dual Process Theory 110
2.2.3 Biological Information Processing 64 3.2.3 Physiological Me chanisms 112
Early Developments 64 Three Cone Systems 112
Single-Cell Recording 64 Color Opponent Cells 113
Autoradiography 66 Reparameterization in Color
Brain Imaging Techniques 66 Processing 114
2.3 Information Processing Theory 70 Lateral Inhibition 115
2.3.1 The Computer Metaphor 71 Adaptation and Aftereffects 119
2.3.2 Three Levels of Information Processing 71 Double Opponent Cells 119
The Computational Level 72 Higher Cortical Mechanisms 120
The Algorithmic Level 72 3.2.4 Development of Color Vision 121
The Implementational Level 73 3.3 Surface-Based Color Processing 122
2.3.3 Three Assumptions of Information 3.3.1 Lightness Constancy 125
Processing 73 Adaptation Theories 125
Informational Description 73 Unconscious Inference versus Relational
Recursive Decomposition 74 Theories 126
Physical Embodiment 77 The Importance of Edges 128
2.3.4 Representation 77 Retinex Theory 128
2.3.5 Processes 80 The Scaling Problem 129
Implicit versus Explicit Information 80 Illumination versus Reflectance
Processing as Inference 80 Edges 130
Hidden Assumptions 81 Distinguishing Illumination from
Heuristic Processes 83 Reflectance Edges 132
Hidden Assumptions versus Ecological 3.3.2 Chromatic Color Constancy 133
Validity 83 Constraining the Problem 133
Top-Down versus Bottom-Up Illumination versus Reflectance Edges
Processes 84 Revisited 134
2.4 Four Stages of Visual Perception 85 Development of Color Constancy 136
2.4.1 The Retinal Image 85 3.4 The Category-Based Stage 137
2.4.2 The Image-Based Stage 87 3.4.1 Color Naming 137
2.4.3 The Surface-Based Stage 88
3.4.2 Focal Colors and Prototypes 139
2.4.4 The Object-Based Stage 90 3.4.3 A Fuzzy-Logical Model of Color
2.4.5 The Category-Based Stage 91 Naming 140

Contents x
 Fuzzy Set Theory 140 4.4.1 Physiological Evidence 193
Primary, Derived, and Composite Color 4.4.2 Perceptual Evidence 195
Categories 141

5 Perceiving Surfaces Oriented in

Depth 199
II Spatial Vision 143 5.1 The Problem of Depth Perception 201
5.1.1 Heuristic Assumptions 202
5.1.2 Marr’s 2.5-D Sketch 202
4 Processing Image Structure 145
5.2 Ocular Information 203
4.1 Physiological Mechanisms 146
5.2.1 Accommodation 203
4.1.1 Retinal and Geniculate Cells 147
5.2.2 Convergence 205
Ganglion Cells 147
5.3 Stereoscopic Information 206
Bipolar Cells 148
5.3.1 Binocular Disparity 206
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus 148
Corresponding Retinal Positions 207
4.1.2 Striate Cortex 151
The Horopter 208
Hubei and Wiesel’s Discovery 151
Stereograms 210
Simple Cells 151
5.3.2 The Correspondence Problem 211
Complex Cells 153
Random Dot Stereograms 212
Hypercomplex C ells 15 3
Autostereograms 214
4.1.3 Striate Architecture 154
Binocular Rivalry 216
The Retinotopic Map 155
5.3.3 Computational Theories 216
Ocular Dominance Slabs 155
The First Marr-Poggio Algorithm 217
Columnar Structure 156
Edge-Based Algorithms 220
4.1.4 Development of Receptive Fields 157
Filtering Algorithms 221
4.2 Psychophysical Channels 158
5.3.4 Physiological Mechanisms 222
4.2.1 Spatial Frequency Theory 159 5.3.5 Vertical Disparity 224
Fourier Analysis 160
5.3.6 Da Vinci Stereopsis 224
Spatial Frequency Channels 162 5.4 Dynamic Information 225
Contrast Sensitivity Functions 163 5.4.1 Motion Parallax 225
Selective Adaptation of Channels 165 5.4.2 Optic Flow Caused by a Moving
Spatial Frequency Aftereffects 166 Observer 226
Thresholds for Sine Wave versus Square 5.4.3 Optic Flow Caused by Moving
Wave Gratings 167 Objects 228
Development of Spatial Frequency 5.4.4 Accretion/Deletion of Texture 229
Channels 168 5.5 Pictorial Information 229
4.2.2 Physiology of Spatial Frequency 5.5.1 Perspective Projection 230
Channels 169
5.5.2 Convergence of Parallel Lines 231
4.3 Computational Approaches 171 5.5.3 Position Relative to the Horizon of a
4.3.1 Marr’s Primal Sketches 172 Surface 231
4.3.2 Edge Detection 172 5.5.4 Relative Size 232
Edge Operators and Convolution 173 5.5.5 Familiar Size 234
The Marr-Hildreth Zero-Crossing 5.5.6 Texture Gradients 234
Algorithm 175 5.5.7 Edge Interpretation 236
Neural Implementation 179 Vertex Classification 237
Scale Integration 180 Four Types of Edges 237
The Raw Primal Sketch 180 Edge Labels 238
4.3.3 Alternative Computational Theories 182 Physical Constraints 239
Texture Analysis 184 Extensions and Generalizations 241
Structure from Shading 184 5.5.8 Shading Information 243
4.3.4 A Theoretical Synthesis 186 Perceiving Surface Orientation from
Local Spatial Frequency Filters 186 Shading 243
Exploiting the Structure of Natural Horn’s Computational Analysis 245
Images 188 Cast Shadows 246
4.4 Visual Pathways 193 5.5.9 Aerial Perspective 246

xi Contents
 5.5.10 Integrating Information Sources 247 6.5.4 The Role of Instructions 304
Dominance 247 6.6 Development of Perceptual Organization 305
Compromise 248 6.6.1 The Habituation Paradigm 306
Interaction 249 6.6.2 The Development of Grouping 306
5.6 Development of Depth Perception 249
5.6.1 Ocular Information 250 7 Perceiving Object Properties and
5.6.2 Stereoscopic Information 251 Parts 311
5.6.3 Dynamic Information 252
Constancy and Illusion 312
5.6.4 Pictorial Information 252
Modes of Perception: Proximal and Distal 313

7.1 Size 314

6 Organizing Objects and Scenes 254
7.1.1 Size Constancy 315
The Problem of Perceptual Organization 255
The Size-Distance Relation 315
The Experience Error 257
Demonstrations of Size Constancy 315
6.1 Perceptual Grouping 257 Departures from Constancy 317
6.1.1 The Classical Principles of Grouping 257 Taking Account of Distance 317
6.1.2 New Principles of Grouping 259 Texture Occlusion 318
6.1.3 Measuring Grouping Effects Relative Size 319
Quantitatively 261 The Horizon Ratio 321
6.1.4 Is Grouping an Early or Late Process? 263 Development of Size Constancy 321
6.1.5 Past Experience 266 7.1.2 Size Illusions 322
6.2 Region Analysis 266 The Moon Illusion 322
6.2.1 Uniform Connectedness 268 The Ponzo Illusion 324
6.2.2 Region Segmentation 269 Illusions of Relative Size 325
Boundary-Based Approaches 270 Occlusion Illusions 326
Region-Based Approaches 271 7.2 Shape 327
Evidence from Stabilized Images 273 7.2.1 Shape Constancy 327
Parts and Parsing 274 Perspective Changes 327
6.2.3 Texture Segregation 275 Two-Dimensional Figures 328
Discovering the Features of Texture 276 Three-Dimensional Objects 329
Texture Segregation as a Parallel Development of Shape Constancy 331
Process 276 7.2.2 Shape Illusions 332
A Theory of Texture Segregation 277 7.3 Orientation 333
6.3 Figure/Ground Organization 280 7.3.1 Orientation Constancy 333
6.3.1 Principles of Figure/Ground 7.3.2 Orientation Illusions 336
Organization 281 Frames of Reference 336
6.3.2 Ecological Considerations 283 Geometric Illusions 337
6.3.3 Effects of Meaningfulness 284 7.4 Position 338
6.3.4 The Problem of Holes 285 7.4.1 Perception of Direction 338
6.4 Visual Interpolation 287 7.4.2 Position Constancy 339
6.4.1 Visual Completion 288 Indirect Theories of Position
Figural Familiarity Theories 289 Constancy 340
Figural Simplicity Theories 289 Direct Theories of Position
Ecological Constraint Theories 290 Constancy 341
6.4.2 Illusory Contours 292 7.4.3 Position Illusions 342
Relation to Visual Completion 293 7.5 Perceptual Adaptation 343
Physiological Basis of Illusory 7.6 Parts 348
Contours 294 7.6.1 Evidence for Perception of Parts 348
6.4.3 Perceived Transparency 296 Linguistic Evidence 348
6.4.4 Figural Scission 298
Phenomenological Demonstrations 349
6.4.5 The Principle of Nonaccidentalness 299 Perceptual Experiments 350
6.5 Multistability 300 7.6.2 Part Segmentation 351
6.5.1 Connectionist Network Models 301 Shape Primitives 351
6.5.2 Neural Fatigue 302 Boundary Rules 353
6.5.3 Eye Fixations 304 7.6.3 Global and Local Processing 354

Contents xii
 Global Precedence 355 Comparison Processes 414
Configural Orientation Effects 357 Decision Processes 414
Word, Object, and Configural 9.2 Phenomena of Perceptual Categorization 416
Superiority Effects 359 9.2.1 Categorical Hierarchies 416
Prototypes 417
Representing Shape and Structure 362 Basic-Level Categories 418
Entry-Level Categories 419
8.1 Shape Equivalence 363
9.2.2 Perspective Viewing Conditions 420
8.1.1 Defining Objective Shape 364
Canonical Perspective 421
8.1.2 Invariant Features 365
Priming Effects 424
8.1.3 Transformational Alignment 367
Orientation Effects 426
8.1.4 Object-Centered Reference Frames 368
9.2.3 Part Structure 427
Geometric Coordinate Systems 369
9.2.4 Contextual Effects 428
Perceptual Reference Frames 370
9.2.5 Visual Agnosia 431
Accounting for Failures of Shape
9.3 Theories of Object Categorization 433
Equivalence 371
9.3.1 Recognition by Components Theory 434
Orientation and Shape 373
Geons 434
Heuristics in Reference Frame
Nonaccidental Features 435
Selection 374
Geon Relations 436
8.2 Theories of Shape Representation 377
Stages of Object Categorization in
8.2.1 Templates 377
RBC 437
Strengths 378
A Neural Network Implementation 438
Weaknesses 379
9.3.2 Accounting for Empirical Phenomena 440
8.2.2 Fourier Spectra 383
Typicality Effects 440
Strengths 384
Entry-Level Categories 440
Weaknesses 384
Viewing Conditions 441
8.2.3 Features and Dimensions 385
Part Structures 442
Multidimensional Representations 387
Contextual Effects 442
Multifeatural Representations 390
Visual Agnosia 443
Strengths 391
Weaknesses 443
Weaknesses 392
9.3.3 Viewpoint-Specific Theories 444
8.2.4 Structural Descriptions 394
The Case for Multiple Views 444
Shape Primitives 396
Aspect Graphs 445
Strengths 397
Alignment with 3-D Models 448
Weaknesses 397
Alignment with 2-D View
8.3 Figural Goodness and Pragnanz 398
Combinations 448
8.3.1 Theories of Figural Goodness 399
Weaknesses 451
Classical Information Theory 399
9.4 Identifying Letters and Words 453
Rotation and Reflection Subsets 400
9.4.1 Identifying Letters 453
Symmetry Subgroups 401
9.4.2 Identifying Words and Letters Within
8.3.2 Structural Information Theory 402
Words 455
Primitive Codes 403
9.4.3 The Interactive Activation Model 458
Removing Redundancies 403
Feature Level 458
Information Load 404
Letter Level 458
Applications to Perceptual
Word Level 459
Organization 405
Word-to-Letter Feedback 460
Strengths 405
Problems 460
Weaknesses 405

Perceiving Function and Category 408

9.1 The Perception of Function 409 III Visual Dynamics 463
9.1.1 Direct Perception of Affordances 410
9.1.2 Indirect Perception of Function by 10 Perceiving Motion and Events 465
Categorization 413
10.1 Image Motion 466
Four Components of Categorization 413
10.1.1 The Computational Problem of
Motion 466

xiii Contents
 10.1.2 Continuous Motion 469 Launching, Triggering, and Entraining
Adaptation and Aftereffects 470 Events 513
Simultaneous Motion Contrast 470 Perceiving Mass Relations 514
The Autokinetic Effect 471 10.4.3 Intuitive Physics 515
10.1.3 Apparent Motion 471 Recognizing versus Generating
Early Gestalt Investigations 472 Answers 515
Motion Picture Technology 473 Particle versus Extended Body
The Correspondence Problem of Motion 517
Apparent Motion 474
Short-Range versus Long-Range 11 Visual Selection: Eye Movements and
Apparent Motion 477
Attention 519
The Aperture Problem 479
11.1 Eye Movements 520
10.1.4 Physiological Mechanisms 481
11.1.1 Types of Eye Movements 521
The Magno and Parvo Systems 481
Physiological Nystagmus 521
Cortical Analysis of Motion 482
Saccadic Movements 523
Neuropsychology of Motion
Smooth Pursuit Movements 524
Perception 483
Vergence Movements 525
10.1.5 Computational Theories 484
Vestibular Movements 525
Delay-and-Compare Networks 484
Optokinetic Movements 526
Edge-Based Models 485
11.1.2 The Physiology of the Oculomotor
Spatial-Frequency-Based Models 485
System 527
Integrating Local Motion 486
11.1.3 Saccadic Exploration of the Visual
10.2 Object Motion 487
Environment 528
10.2.1 Perceiving Object Velocity 487
Patterns of Fixations 528
10.2.2 Depth and Motion 488
Transsaccadic Integration 531
Rigid Motion in Depth 489
11.2 Visual Attention 531
The Kinetic Depth Effect 489
11.2.1 Early versus Late Selection 533
The Rigidity Heuristic and the
Auditory Attention 533
Correspondence Problem 490
The Inattention Paradigm 534
The Stereo-Kinetic Effect 491
The Attentional Blink 537
Perception of Nonrigid Motion 492
Change Blindness 538
10.2.3 Long-Range Apparent Motion 493
Intentionally Ignored Information 539
Apparent Rotation 493
11.2.2 Costs and Benefits of Attention 541
Curved Apparent Motion 495
The Attentional Cuing Paradigm 542
Conditions for Long-Range Apparent
Motion 497 Voluntary versus Involuntary Shifts of
Attention 543
10.2.4 Dynamic Perceptual Organization 498
Grouping by Movement 498 Three Components of Shifting
Attention 544
Configural Motion 499
11.2.3 Theories of Spatial Attention 544
Induced Motion 501
Kinetic Completion and Illusory The Spotlight Metaphor 545

Figures 502 The Zoom Lens Metaphor 546

Anorthoscopic Perception 502 Space-Based versus Object-Based

10.3 Self-Motion and Optic Flow 504 Approaches 547

10.3.1 Induced Motion of the Self 504 11.2.4 Selective Attention to Properties 549

Position and Orientation 504 The Stroop Effect 549

Balance and Posture 506 Integral versus Separable

10.3.2 Perceiving Self-Motion 506 Dimensions 550

Direction of Self-Motion 506 11.2.5 Distributed versus Focused

Speed of Self-Motion 509 Attention 554

Virtual Reality and Ecological Visual Pop-Out 554

Perception 510 Search Asymmetry 556

10.4 Understanding Events 511 11.2.6 Feature Integration Theory 556

10.4.1 Biological Motion 511 Conjunction Search 557

10.4.2 Perceiving Causation 513 Texture Segregation 558

Contents XIV
 Illusory Conjunctions 558 Image Size Effects 607
Problems with Feature Integration Mental Psychophysics 608
Theory 559 Reinterpreting Images 608
Object Files 561 12.2.4 Kosslyn’s Model of Imagery 609
11.2.7 The Physiology of Attention 563 12.2.5 The Relation of Imagery to
Unilateral Neglect 563 Perception 611
Balint’s Syndrome 565 Behavioral Evidence 611
Brain Imaging Studies 566 Neuropsychological Evidence 612
Electrophysiological Studies 567 Brain Imaging Studies 613
11.2.8 Attention and Eye Movements 568

13 Visual Awareness 615

12 Visual Memory and Imagery 572
13.1 Philosophical Foundations 618
12.1 Visual Memory 573 13.1.1 The Mind-Body Problem 618
12.1.1 Three Memory Systems 573 Dualism 618
12.1.2 Iconic Memory 575 Idealism 620
The Partial Report Procedure 575 Materialism 621
Duration 576 Behaviorism 621
Content 576 Functionalism 623
Maintenance 577 Supervenience 624
Loss 577 13.1.2 The Problem of Other Minds 624
Masking 578 Criteria for Consciousness 624
Persistence versus Processing 579 The Inverted Spectrum Argument 625
12.1.3 Visual Short-Term Memory 580 Phenomenological Criteria 627
Visual STM versus Iconic Memory 581 Behavioral Criteria 628
Visual STM versus Visual LTM 582 Physiological Criteria 629
The Visuo-Spatial Scratch Pad 584 Correlational versus Causal
Transsaccadic Memory 585 Theories 630
Conceptual Short-Term Memory 586 13.2 Neuropsychology of Visual Awareness 630
12.1.4 Visual Long-Term Memory 588 13.2.1 Split-Brain Patients 631
Three Types of LTM 588 13.2.2 Blindsight 633
Visual Routines 589 The Case History of D.B. 633
Recall versus Recognition 589 Accurate Guessing without Visual
How Good Is Episodic Visual Experience 634
LTM? 590 The Two Visual Systems
Visual Imagery as a Mnemonic Hypothesis 635
Device 591 Methodological Challenges 635
Dual Coding Theory 592 13.2.3 Unconscious Processing in Neglect and
Photographic Memory 593 Balint’s Syndrome 636
Mnemonists 594 13.2.4 Unconscious Face Recognition in
Neuropsychology of Visual Prosopagnosia 637
Memory 594 13.3 Visual Awareness in Normal Observers 638
12.1.5 Memory Dynamics 596 13.3.1 Perceptual Defense 638
Tendencies toward Goodness 596 13.3.2 Subliminal Perception 639
Effects of Verbal Labels 597 Marcel’s Experiments 639
The Misinformation Effect 597 Objective versus Subjective Thresholds of
Representational Momentum 601 Awareness 641
12.2 Visual Imagery 602 Functional Correlates of
12.2.1 The Analog/Propositional Debate 603 Consciousness 642
The Analog Position 603 13.3.3 Inattentional Blindsight 643
The Propositional Position 604 13.4 Theories of Consciousness 644
12.2.2 Mental Transformations 605 13.4.1 Functional Architecture Theories 645
Mental Rotation 605 The STM Hypothesis 645
Other Transformations 606 An Activation-Based Conception of
12.2.3 Image Inspection 607 STM 646
Image Scanning 607 The Attention Hypothesis 647

xv Contents
 Working Memory Theories 648 The Delta Rule 682
The 2.5-D Sketch Theory of The Generalized Delta Rule 683
Consciousness 649 B. 2.2 Gradient Descent 683
13.4.2 Biological Theories 649 Input Vector Space 683
Activation Thresholds 650 Partitioning the Input Vector Space 684
Duration Thresholds 651 State Space 684
The Cortical Hypothesis 651 Weight Space 685
The Crick/Koch Conjectures 652 Weight-Error Space 686
ERTAS: The Extended Reticular- Gradient Descent 686
Thalamic Activating System 654 Local versus Global Minima 686
Causal Theories of Consciousness: An
Analogy 655
13.4.3 Consciousness and the Limits of
Appendix C: Color Technology 689
Science 656 C.l Additive versus Subtractive Color Mixture 690
Relational Structure 657 C. 1.1 Adding versus Multiplying Spectra 691
The Isomorphism Constraint 658 C.l.2 Maxwell’s Color Triangle 691
Relation to Functionalism 659 C. 1.3 C.I.E. Color Space 692
Biology to the Rescue? 661 C.1.4 Subtractive Color Mixture Space? 693
C.2 Color Television 694
C.3 Paints and Dyes 696
Appendix A: Psychophysical Methods 665 C.3.1 Subtractive Combination of Paints 696
A. 1 Measuring Thresholds 665 C.3.2 Additive Combination of Paints 697
A. 1.1 Method of Adjustment 666 C.4 Color Photography 697
A. 1.2 Method of Limits 666 C.5 Color Printing 699
A. 1.3 Method of Constant Stimuli 666
A. 1.4 The Theoretical Status of Thresholds 667
A.2 Signal Detection Theory 668
Glossary 701
A.2.1 Response Bias 668 References 737
A.2.2 The Signal Detection Paradigm 668 Name Index 771
A.2.3 The Theory of Signal Detectability 669 Subject Index 780
A.3 Difference Thresholds 671
A.3.1 Just Noticeable Differences 671
A.3.2 Weber’s Law 671
A. 4 Psychophysical Scaling 672
A.4.1 Fechner’s Law 672
A. 4.2 Stevens’s Law 673

Appendix B: Connectionist Modeling 675

B. l Network Behavior 676
B. 1.1 Unit Behavior 677
Combining Input Activation 677
Determining Output Activation 678
B. 1.2 System Architecture 678
Feedforward Networks 678
Feedback Networks 678
Symmetric Networks 679
Winner-Take-All Networks 679
B. 1.3 Systemic Behavior 679
Graceful Degradation 679
Settling into a Stable State 680
Soft Constraint Satisfaction 680
Pattern Completion 680
B.2 Connectionist Learning Algorithms 681
B.2.1 Back Propagation 681

Contents xvi
Preface Writing this book has been a long and difficult under¬
taking. Because several good textbooks are available
that present the basic facts about vision in a clear and
readable fashion, the reader may wonder why I em¬
barked on this journey. Indeed, I often wonder myself!
It was not that I thought I could do a better job at what
these other books do. Truthfully, I doubt I could. It was
that I felt the need for a different kind of textbook, one
that accurately reflects the way most modern research
scientists think about vision. In fact, the scientific under¬
standing of visual perception has changed profoundly
over the past 25 years, and almost all the current text¬
books are still in the “old” mold in both structure and
content. New results are included, of course, but the
new approach to vision is not.
So what is this new approach? The change in the na¬
ture of visual research began in the 1970s, resulting
from the gradual emergence of an interdisciplinary field
that I will call vision science. It arose at the intersection
of several existing disciplines in which scientists were
concerned with image understanding: how the structure
of optical images was (or could be) processed to extract
useful information about the environment. Perceptual
psychologists, psychophysicists, computer scientists, neu¬
rophysiologists, and neuropsychologists who study vision
started talking and listening to each other at this time
because they began to recognize that they were working
on the same problem from different but compatible and
complementary perspectives. Vision science is a branch
of a larger interdisciplinary endeavor known as cogni¬
tive science that began at about the same time. Cog¬
nitive science is the study of all mental states and
processes—not just visual ones—from an even greater
variety of methodologically distinct fields, including not
only psychology, computer science, and neuroscience,
but also linguistics, philosophy, anthropology, sociology,
and others. In my own view, vision science is not just one
branch of cognitive science, but the single most co-
 herent, integrated, and successful branch of cognitive
science.
Central to this new approach is the idea that vision is
a kind of computation. In living organisms, it occurs in
eyes and brains through complex neural information
processing, but it can, at least in theory, also take place
when information from video cameras is fed to properly
programmed digital computers. This idea has had an
important unifying effect on the study of vision, en¬
abling psychologists, computer scientists, and physiolo¬
gists to relate their findings to each other in the common
language of computation. Vision researchers from dis¬
parate fields now read and cite each other’s work regu¬
larly, participate in interdisciplinary conferences, and
collaborate on joint research projects. Indeed, the study
of vision is rapidly becoming a unified field in which
the boundaries between the component disciplines have
become largely transparent.
This interdisciplinary convergence has dominated the
cutting edge of vision research for more than two dec¬
ades, but it is curiously underrepresented or even absent
in most modern textbooks about perception. One reason
is that most textbooks that cover vision also include
hearing, taste, touch, and smell. With the exception of
hearing, the computational approach has not yet gained
a firm foothold in these other sensory modalities. The
attempt to provide a consistent framework for research
in all modalities thus precludes using the computational
approach so dominant in vision research.
Another reason the computational approach to vision
has not been well represented in textbooks is that its
essential core is theoretical, and introductory textbook
authors tend to shy away from theory. The reasons are
several, having to do partly with many authors’ lack of
computational background, partly with the difficulty of
presenting complex quantitative theories clearly without
overwhelming the reader, and partly with students’ de¬
sire to learn only things that are “right.” In the final
analysis, all phenomena are “right,” and all theories
(except one) are presumably “wrong”—although some
are “wronger” than others. Students are understandably
wary of expending much effort on learning a theory that
is surely flawed in some way or other. Such consid¬
erations have led to a generation of textbooks that are as
theoretically neutral as possible, usually by being as
atheoretical as possible. But the importance of theories
in science lies not so much in their ultimate truth or
Preface
falsity as in the crucial role they play in understanding
known phenomena and in predicting new ones. Given
that we have few, if any, truly adequate theories in
vision science yet, virtually every insight we have into
known phenomena and every predicted new one have
been generated by incorrect theories! They are, quite
simply, an essential component of vision science.
In this book I have therefore taken the position that it
is just as important for students of vision to understand
theories as to know about phenomena. Most chapters
include a healthy dose of theory, and some (e.g., Chap¬
ters 2 and 8) are almost entirely theoretical. But I have
tried to do more than simply catalog bits and pieces of
existing theory; I have tried to present a theoretical syn¬
thesis that is internally consistent and globally coherent.
This is a tall order, to be sure, for the classical theories
of visual perception seem so different as to be diametri¬
cally opposed. Structuralist theory, for example, claimed
that wholes are nothing but associations of elementary
parts, whereas Gestalt theory championed the primacy
of wholes over parts. Helmholtz’s theory of unconscious
inference claimed that vision is mediated by thoughtlike
deductions, whereas Gibson’s ecological theory coun¬
tered that perception is direct and unmediated. How
can a theoretically coherent position be fashioned from
such diverse and contradictory components? I do not
claim to have succeeded completely in this synthesis, for
I do have to deny some important tenets of certain posi¬
tions. But not many. Much has been made of differences
that are more apparent than real, and I believe that the
computational approach presented in this book can span
the vast majority of them without strain. The strong
form of Gibson’s claim for direct perception is an ex¬
ception, but weaker forms of this view are quite com¬
patible with the computational view taken in this book,
as I explain in Chapter 2.
The unified theoretical viewpoint I present is not so
much my own theory as my construction of what I think
of as the current “modal theory.” Experts on vision will
naturally find aspects of it to which they take exception,
but I believe the vast majority will find it consistent with
most of their firmly held beliefs. The theoretical frame¬
work I advocate owes much to the influential proposals
of the late David Marr and his colleagues at MIT, but
this is true of the field in general. In many cases, I have
generalized Marr’s specific proposals to make clear how
his own detailed theories were examples of a more gen-
xviii
eral framework into which a variety of other specific
theories fit quite comfortably. Even so, I do not consider
the view I describe as exclusively or even primarily
Marr’s; it owes just as much to classical perceptual theo¬
rists such as Helmholtz, Wertheimer, Gibson, and Rock.
The interweaving of such diverse theoretical ideas is not
difficult to achieve, provided one avoids divisive dogma
and instead concentrates on the positive contributions of
each view.
Because the book is much more theoretical and inter¬
disciplinary than most perception textbooks, it is corre¬
spondingly longer and more difficult. It is designed for
an upper division undergraduate course or an entry-level
graduate course on vision, most likely as part of a pro¬
gram of study in psychology, cognitive science, or op¬
tometry. I have tried to explain both theories and
phenomena clearly enough to be understood by intelli¬
gent, motivated students with no prior background in
the field of vision. I do presume that readers have some
basic understanding of behavioral experiments, com¬
puter programming, and neurobiology. Those who are
unfamiliar with this material may find certain portions
of the text more difficult and have to work harder as a
result, but the technical prerequisites are intended to be
relatively few and low-level, mainly high school geome¬
try and algebra.
Despite the strongly interdisciplinary nature of this
book, it is written primarily from a psychological per¬
spective. The reason is simply that I am a psychologist
by training, and no matter how seriously I have read the
literature in computer vision and visual neuroscience,
the core of my viewpoint is still psychological. In keep¬
ing with this perspective, I have avoided presenting the
complex mathematical details that would be central to a
computer scientist’s presentation of the same topics and
the biological details that would figure prominently in a
neuroscientist’s presentation. By the same token, I have
included details of experimental methods and results
that they might well have omitted by nonpsychologists.
Vision science may have made the boundaries between
disciplines more transparent, but it has not eliminated
them. Psychologists still perform experiments on sighted
organisms, computer scientists still write programs that
extract and transform optical information, and neuro¬
scientists still study the structure and function of the
visual nervous system. Such methodological differences
will not disappear. Indeed, they should not disappear,
XIX
because they are precisely what makes an interdisciplin¬
ary approach desirable. What is needed is a group of
vision scientists who are well versed in all these dis¬
ciplines. It is my sincere hope that this book will help
create such a community of scientists.
In addition to being used as a textbook, I hope that
this book will be useful as a reference text for members
of the expanding vision science community. Although
the sections describing one’s own field of specialization
may seem elementary, the rest of the book can provide
useful background material and relatively sophisticated
introductions to other areas of vision research. The cov¬
erage is not intended to be at the same level as a profes¬
sional handbook, in which each chapter is expected to
be a definitive treatment of a specific topic written by a
world-class expert for an audience of other experts, but
it is also more accessible and internally consistent than
any handbook I have ever seen. It is therefore particu¬
larly useful for someone who wants to get a global view
of vision science—the “lay of the land,” if you will—
within which the focused chapters that one finds in pro¬
fessional handbooks will fit comfortably and make more
sense.
Organization of the Book
Because the aim of this book is to integrate material
across disciplines, each chapter includes findings from
many different approaches. There is no “physiology
chapter,” no “psychophysics chapter,” no “devel¬
opmental chapter,” no “neuropsychology chapter,” and
no “computational chapter” in which the separate and
often conflicting mini-views within each of these dis¬
ciplines can be conveniently described in isolation. I
have avoided this approach because it compartmental¬
izes knowledge, blocking the kind of synthesis that I am
trying to achieve and that I view as essential for progress
in the field. Rather, the topic of each chapter is discussed
from the perspectives of all relevant disciplines, some¬
times including those that writers of textbooks on vision
traditionally ignore, such as computer science, philoso¬
phy, and linguistic anthropology. Even within the more
standard visual disciplines, the coverage is not uniform
because the distribution of knowledge is not uniform.
We know a great deal more about the physiology of
early image processing, for example, than we do about
the physiology of categorization and visual imagery.
Preface
This unevenness is merely a reflection of the current
state of understanding.
The overall organization of the book is defined by
its three parts: Foundations, Spatial Vision, and Visual
Dynamics.
Foundations. The Foundations section covers a basic
introduction to the interdisciplinary science of vision.
Chapter 1 introduces the problem of visual perception
and sets forth an interdisciplinary framework for ap¬
proaching it. It covers many of the most important
perceptual, optical, and physiological facts on which
vision is based. Chapter 2 then discusses theoretical
approaches to vision from an historical perspective. It
covers the classical theories of vision as well as the infor¬
mation processing (or computational) approach, includ¬
ing several important proposals from the work of the
late David Marr (1982) that play a large role in defining
the superstructure of the rest of the book. The key idea
is that visual perception can be analyzed into a sequence
of four basic stages: one that deals with extracting image
structure (Marr’s “primal sketch”), one that deals with
recovering surfaces in depth (Marr’s “2.5-D sketch”),
one that deals with describing 3-D objects (Marr’s “vol¬
umetric descriptions”), and one that deals with identify¬
ing objects in terms of known categories. This sequence
of processes—which I call image-based, surface-based, object-
based, and category-based—is then traced for each of the
major topics covered in the book: color, space, and mo¬
tion perception. The final chapter of the Foundations
section, Chapter 3, is a long but important one. It tells
“the color story,” which spans vision science from the
physiology of retinal receptors to the linguistic analysis
of color names in different cultures of the world. Its
importance derives from the fact that the current under¬
standing of color processing illustrates better than any
other single example in all of cognitive science why an
integrated, interdisciplinary approach is necessary for a
complete understanding of a perceptual domain.
Spatial Vision. Chapters 4 through 9 cover spatial
perception as a sequence of processes: extracting image
structure (Chapter 4), recovering oriented surfaces in
depth (Chapter 5), organizing perception into coherent
objects (Chapter 6), perceiving object properties and
parts (Chapter 7), representing shape (Chapter 8), and
identifying objects as members of known categories
Preface
(Chapter 9). This material on spatial processing of im¬
ages is the heart and soul of classical visual perception.
Because it is much more complex than color processing,
we understand it much less well. It is hard at times not to
be overwhelmed by the mountains of facts and frus¬
trated at the lack of good theory, but I believe we are
beginning to get some clearer notion of how this all fits
together.
Visual Dynamics. The final section concerns percep¬
tual dynamics: how visual perception and its aftereffects
change over time. Perception of motion and events is
the first topic considered (Chapter 10), being essentially
an extension of spatial perception to the domain of
space-time. Then we discuss ways in which the visual
system selects different information over time by making-
overt eye movements and covert attentional adjustments
(Chapter 11). Next we consider memory for visual infor¬
mation within a multistore framework—iconic memory,
short-term visual memory, and long-term visual mem¬
ory—and examine how such stored information can be
reconstructed and transformed in visual imagery (Chap¬
ter 12). Finally, Chapter 13 takes up what is perhaps the
most fascinating of all topics: the nature of visual
awareness (and its absence in certain neurological syn¬
dromes) and various attempts at explaining it. This topic
is very much on the cutting edge of modern vision sci¬
ence and is finally getting the attention that it deserves.
Tailoring the Book to Different Needs
Because the book contains more topics and material
than can comfortably fit into any single-term under¬
graduate course, instructors are encouraged to be selec¬
tive in using it. I have included too much rather than too
little because I find it easier to skip what I do not want to
cover in a single unified textbook than to find external
readings that cover the desired material at an appropri¬
ate level and in a framework that is compatible with the
main textbook—a nearly impossible task, I have found.
There are several ways of tailoring the present book
to different needs. Most obviously, certain chapters can
be skipped in their entirety. For example, if color is not
a high priority, Chapter 3 can be omitted with only
minor ramifications for later chapters. Chapter 10 on
motion perception is likewise reasonably independent of
the rest of the book. For courses that are restricted to
xx
classical visual perception, Chapter 11 on eye move¬
ments and attention and Chapter 12 on memory and
imagery are probably the least relevant. A course em¬
phasizing high-level vision can reasonably omit Chapter
4 on image-based processing.
Another approach to selective coverage is omitting
subsections within chapters. For traditional courses on
the psychology of vision, the sections on computational
theory and other technical material may be eliminated
or assigned as optional. (One effective approach I have
used is to teach an honors section of the course for addi¬
tional credit in which the more difficult material is
required and other sections for which it is not.) Elimi¬
nating this material has the advantages of making the
book substantially shorter and easier to understand for
students with less technical backgrounds. The devel¬
opmental sections can also generally be omitted without
much affecting the book’s continuity and cohesion.
For students with strong scientific backgrounds who
are highly motivated to learn about modern vision
science, I encourage instructors to use as much of the
book as possible. It is perfectly reasonable, for example,
to cover the entire book in a graduate course on vision
that lasts a full semester.
Acknowledgments
There are many people I wish to thank for helping me in
various phases of writing this book. First and foremost, I
gratefully acknowledge my debt to my late colleague
and friend, Irvin Rock, to whom this book is dedicated.
Irv not only taught me about perception in his own gen¬
tle, probing, inimitable way, but he also read and com¬
mented on earlier drafts of the first nine chapters before
his death in 1995. Moreover, his 1975 textbook An Intro¬
duction to Perception served as a model for this one in cer¬
tain important ways. In that book, Irv tried to present
the phenomena of visual perception at an introductory
level yet within a coherent and principled theoretical
view of perception as a problem solving process. While
it was still in print, it was my favorite perception text,
and I know that some instructors continue to use it in
photocopied readers to this day.
Irv’s influence on this book has been substantial, as
careful readers will surely discover. Had he lived, I be¬
lieve his continued contributions would have improved
it further and kept me from making some mistakes I
xxi
doubtless have made in his absence. After Irv’s death,
Arien Mack, one of Irv’s most distinguished students
and collaborators, became my primary reviewer for the
remaining chapters of the book. One or the other of
them has read and commented on every chapter.
Many other experts in vision science have also read
more limited portions of the book, either at my own
request or at that of MIT Press, and provided valuable
comments on material in their specialty areas. I wish to
thank the following scholars, plus several anonymous re¬
viewers, for the time and effort they spent in evaluating
portions of the manuscript:
Chapter 1: Irvin Rock, Jack Gallant, Paul Kube
Chapter 2: Irvin Rock, James Cutting, Ulric Neisser,
Paul Kube, Jitendra Malik, and an anonymous re¬
viewer
Chapter 3: Irvin Rock, Karen DeValois, Alan Gilchrist,
C. Lawrence Hardin, Paul Kay, and an anonymous
reviewer
Chapter 4: Irvin Rock, Jitendra Malik, Jack Gallant,
Ken Nakayama, and an anonymous reviewer
Chapter 5: Irvin Rock, Jitendra Malik, Ken Nakayama,
and an anonymous reviewer
Chapter 6: Irvin Rock, Jitendra Malik, and Michael
Kubovy
Chapter 7: Irvin Rock, Arien Mack, and an anonymous
reviewer
Chapter 8: Irvin Rock, John Hummel, and an anony¬
mous reviewer
Chapter 9: Irvin Rock, John Hummel, and an anony¬
mous reviewer
Chapter 10: Arien Mack, James Cutting, Dennis Prof¬
fitt, and an anonymous reviewer
Chapter 11: Arien Mack, Michael Posner, Anne Treis-
man, and William Prinzmetal
Chapter 12: Arien Mack and Martha Farah
Chapter 13: Arien Mack, Alison Gopnik, John Watson,
Bruce Mangan, Bernard Baars, and C. Lawrence
Hardin
Appendix A: Ken Nakayama and Ervin Hafter
Appendix B: John Kruschke and Jerome Leldman
Appendix C: Alan Gilchrist
Several students, postdoctoral fellows, and visitors in
my lab have also taken the time to comment on various
portions of the book. Without differentiating among
chapters, I wish to thank Daniel Levitin, Elisabeth Pa-
Preface
 chiere, Joel Norman, Akira Shimaya, Diane Beck, Justin
Beck, Sheryl Ehrlich, Craig Fox, Jonathan Neff, Charles
Schreiber, and Christopher Stecker for their helpful
comments. In addition, I would like to thank Christo¬
pher Linnett, Sheryl Ehrlich, Diane Beck, Thomas
Leung, William Prinzmetal, Gregory Larson for doing
some of the more complex and technical illustra¬
tions, Lisa Hamilton for working on design issues, and
Richard Powers for improving my work environment.
For their help in copy editing and preparing the final
manuscript for production, I would like to thank Bar¬
bara Willette and Peggy Gordon, respectively. Last, but
not least, I must thank Edward Hubbard for his tireless
help in tracking down references, obtaining permission
to reprint figures, checking page proofs, and generally
overseeing the final stages of preparing the manuscript
for publication.
This book took a long time to write—certainly a good
deal longer than I had planned or than I would like to
admit—and its writing put a significant strain on all
other aspects of my life. During this time, many people
have contributed emotional support and understanding,
for which they are due both thanks for their help and
apologies for the time this project has stolen from them.
They include Paul Harris, Stephen Forsling, David
Shiver, and Andy Utiger, as well as Linda, Emily, and
Nathan Palmer.

Preface XXII
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