1st Edition

Psychophysics Beyond Sensation Laws and Invariants of Human Cognition

    544 Pages
    by Psychology Press

    544 Pages
    by Psychology Press

    This volume presents a series of studies that expand laws, invariants, and principles of psychophysics beyond its classical domain of sensation. This book's goal is to demonstrate the extent of the domain of psychophysics, ranging from sensory processes, through sensory memory and short-term memory issues, to the interaction between sensation and action. The dynamics and timing of human performance are a further important issue within this extended framework of psychophysics: Given the similarity of the various cortical areas in terms of their neuroanatomical structure, it is an important question whether this similarity is paralleled by a similarity of processes. These issues are addressed by the contributions in the present volume using state-of-the-art research methods in behavioral research, psychophysiology, and mathematical modeling.

    The book is divided into four sections. Part I presents contributions concerning the classical domain of psychophysical judgment. The next two parts are concerned with elementary and higher-order processes and the concluding section deals with psychophysical models. The sections are introduced by guest editorials contributed by independent authors. These editorials present the authors' personals view on the respective section, providing an integrated account of the various contributions or highlighting their focus of interest among them. While also voicing their own and sometimes different point of view, they contribute to the process of discussion that makes science so exciting.

    This volume should be of great interest to advanced students in neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, neuropsychology, and related areas who seek to evaluate the range and power of psychological work today. Established scientists in those fields will also appreciate the variety of issues addressed within the same methodological framework and their multiple interconnections and stimulating "cross-talk."

    Contents: Preface. H-G. Geissler, Guest Editorial. Part I: Theories of Psychophysical Judgment. R.D. Luce, Guest Editorial. E.N. Dzhafarov, Perceptual Separability of Stimulus Dimensions: A Fechnerian Analysis. C.A. Izmailov, E.N. Sokolov, Subjective and Objective Scaling of Large Color Differences. P. Petzold, G. Haubensak, Short-Term and Long-Term Frames of Reference in Category Judgments: A Multiple-Standards Model. V. Sarris, Frame of Reference Models in Psychophysics: A Perceptual-Cognitive Approach. J.T. Townsend, J. Spencer-Smith, Two Kinds of Global Perceptual Separability and Curvature. Part II: Timing and Dynamics of Human Performance. H. Colonius, Guest Editorial. G. Aschersleben, J. Gehrke, W. Prinz, A Psychophysical Approach to Action Timing. M.A. Elliott, H.J. Müller, Synchronization and Stimulus Timing: Implications for Temporal Models of Visual Information Processing. H-G. Geissler, Functional Architectures in Structural Recognition and the Role of "Seeming Redundancy." T. Lachmann, C. van Leeuwen, Memory-Guided Inference in Same-Different Comparison Tasks. H.J. Müller, J. Krummenacher, D. Heller, Dimension-Based Visual Attention and Visual Object Segmentation. O. Neumann, M. Niepel, Timing of "Perception" and Perception of "Time." D. Vorberg, U. Mattler, A. Heinecke, T. Schmidt, J. Schwarzbach, Invariant Time Course of Priming With and Without Awareness. D.G. Watson, G.W. Humphreys, C.N.L. Olivers, Visual Marking: Using Time as Well as Space in Visual Selection. Part III: Psychophysics of Memory. N. Cowan, Guest Editorial. J. Bredenkamp, Cavanagh's Hypotheses Within the Context of Other Invariance Hypotheses: Theory and Data. C. Kaernbach, Auditory Sensory Memory and Short-Term Memory. U. Lass, G. Lüer, D. Becker, Y. Fang, G. Chen, Encoding and Retrieval Components Affecting Memory Span: Articulation Rate, Memory Search, and Trace Redintegration. U. Roeber, C. Kaernbach, Memory Scanning Beyond the Limit--If There Is One. E. Schröger, M. Tervaniemi, M. Huotilainen, Bottom-Up and Top-Down Flows of Information Within Auditory Memory: Electrophysiological Evidence. Part IV: Neural and Representational Models. A. Aertsen, Guest Editorial. S. Grossberg, The Complementary Brain: From Brain Dynamics to Conscious Experiences. R. Kompass, Universal Temporal Structures in Human Information Processing: A Neural Principle and Psychophysical Evidence. E. Leeuwenberg, Structural Information Theory and Visual Form.

    Biography

    Christian Kaernbach, Erich Schr”ger, Hermann Muller, Erich Schroger