Dr. Rob Gray
Nissan Cambridge Basic Research
Cambridge, MA
will speak on
What Can Motion Aftereffects Teach us About Action and Attention?
Abstract:
The ability to selectively adapt the human visual system has been
used as a psychophysical tool to investigate many basic aspects of
human vision (e.g. spatial frequency filtering and motion
opponency). But, does selective adaptation have any important
effects on our behavior in the world outside the laboratory? Can it
be used as tool for studying more complex phenomenon like
perceptual-motor control and visual attention? In the first part of
this talk, I will discuss two new effects of motion adaptation on
visually guided motor action: (1) Following prolonged exposure to
retinal image expansion produced by simulated driving on an empty
road, motion adaptation can cause a driver to overestimate the time
to collision with other cars. This overestimation can dramatically
alter the timing of overtaking and passing maneuvers; (2) Adaptation
to expansion during driving can also increase the time required to
detect approaching objects. This increase in detection time can
delay the initiation of braking, increasing the risk of a rear-end
collision. Along with considering the important practical
implications, I will demonstrate how these aftereffects can be used
as a research tool for understanding the control of visually guided
actions. Finally, I will discuss experiments examining the
attentional modulation of these aftereffects and consider the role
of attention in the processing of motion-in-depth.
The lecture will take place in the
Lecture Hall, Room 203, 44 Cummington St.
on Tuesday, October 17, 2000
at 4:00 pm
Hosted by the
Brain and Vision Research Laboratory