Visual Selection Research Articles

Spatially Guided Distractor Suppression during Visual Search.

Past work has demonstrated that active suppression of salient distractors is a critical part of visual selection. Evidence for goal-driven suppression includes below-baseline visual encoding at the position of salient distractors (Gaspelin and Luck, 2018) and neural signals such as the distractor positivity (Pd) that track how many distractors are presented in a given hemifield (Feldmann-Wüstefeld and Vogel, 2019). One basic question regarding distractor suppression is whether it is inherently spatial or nonspatial in character. Indeed, past work has shown that distractors evoke both spatial (Theeuwes, 1992) and nonspatial forms of interference (Folk and Remington, 1998), motivating a direct examination of whether space is integral to goal-driven distractor suppression. Here, we use behavioral and EEG data from adult humans (male and female) to provide clear evidence for a spatial gradient of suppression surrounding salient singleton distractors. Replicating past work, both reaction time and neural indices of target selection improved monotonically as the distance between target and distractor increased. Importantly, these target selection effects were paralleled by a monotonic decline in the amplitude of the Pd, an electrophysiological index of distractor suppression. Moreover, multivariate analyses revealed spatially selective activity in the θ-band that tracked the position of the target and, critically, revealed suppressed activity at spatial channels centered on distractor positions. Thus, goal-driven selection of relevant over irrelevant information benefits from a spatial gradient of suppression surrounding salient distractors.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Past work has shown that distractor suppression is an important part of goal-driven attentional selection, but has not yet revealed whether suppression is spatially directed. Using behavioral data, event-related potentials (ERPs) of the EEG signal [N2pc and distractor positivity (Pd) component], as well as a multivariate model of EEG data [channel tuning functions (CTF)], we show that suppression-related neural activity increases monotonically as the distance between targets and distractors decreases, and that spatially-selective activity in the θ-band reveals depressed activity in spatial channels that index distractor positions. Thus, we provide robust evidence for spatially-guided distractor suppression, a result that has important implications for models of goal-driven attentional control.

Why Are Acquired Search-Guiding Context Memories Resistant to Updating?

Looking for goal-relevant objects in our various environments is one of the most ubiquitous tasks the human visual system has to accomplish (Wolfe, 1998). Visual search is guided by a number of separable selective-attention mechanisms that can be categorized as bottom-up driven – guidance by salient physical properties of the current stimuli – or top-down controlled – guidance by observers' “online” knowledge of search-critical object properties (e.g., Liesefeld and Müller, 2019). In addition, observers' expectations based on past experience also play also a significant role in goal-directed visual selection. Because sensory environments are typically stable, it is beneficial for the visual system to extract and learn the environmental regularities that are predictive of (the location of) the target stimulus. This perspective article is concerned with one of these predictive mechanisms: statistical context learning of consistent spatial patterns of target and distractor items in visual search. We review recent studies on context learning and its adaptability to incorporate consistent changes, with the aim to provide new directions to the study of processes involved in the acquisition of search-guiding context memories and their adaptation to consistent contextual changes – from a three-pronged, psychological, computational, and neurobiological perspective.

KARAKTER PUNAKAWAN SEBAGAI STICKER CHAT DALAM KAMPANYE PENANGGULANGAN COVID-19 DI SURAKARTA

Punakawan, a wayang purwa character whose presence is always awaited, because of his humor in conveying moral messages and social issues that are hotly discussed by the community. They are able to communicate messages according to trends, adaptive to situations and conditions, as well as communicative, so that they are easily accepted by the audience. Starting from the elders who enjoy pakeliran to the Post-Millennial generation who are enthusiastic about social media. This design study is a way of optimizing the achievement of the message of the Covid-19 pandemic response campaign in Surakarta, which is applied to social media in the form of digital stickers on the instant messaging platform for the Post-Millennial generation group in Surakarta. Punakawan as a visual communication strategy with cultural insights in the midst of a pandemic situation, is adjusted to post-millennial visual references, so that messages are easy to remember, effective, and well conveyed. This design study will design instant messaging chat stickers for the millennial generation as a campaign for handling Covid-19 in the city of Surakarta, so that qualitative ethnographic methods are carried out, with the stages of gathering information in the city of Surakarta aimed at the post-millennial generation group in the form of observation, interviews, and problem identification. , the planning stage by determining the main ideas through analysis, integration, abstraction, using a visual rhetorical approach, synthesis and selection stages, then the following realization of prototype trials, and implementation of digital stickers on communication technology 4.0 on Google Paly Store as monetizing. 
 Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, sticker, Punakawan

The time course of salience: not entirely caused by salience

Visual salience is a key component of attentional selection, the process that guards the scarce resources needed for conscious recognition and perception. In previous works, we proposed a measure of visual salience based on a formal theory of visual selection. However, the strength of visual salience depends on the time course as well as local physical contrasts. Evidence from multiple experimental designs in the literature suggests that the strength of salience rises initially and declines after approximately 150 ms. The present article amends the theory-based salience measure beyond local physical contrasts to the time course of salience. It does so through a first experiment which reveals that—contrary to expectations—salience is not reduced during the first 150 ms after onset. Instead, the overall visual processing capacity is severely reduced, which corresponds to a reduced processing speed of all stimuli in the visual field. A second experiment confirms this conclusion by replicating the result. We argue that the slower stimulus processing may have been overlooked previously because the attentional selection mechanism had not yet been modeled in studies on the time course of salience.

Visual selection of standard wells for large scale logging data via discrete choice model

It is a time-consuming and laborious task to conduct accurate geological interpretation based on large-scale logging data. A subset of drilling wells are always selected undergoing detailed stratigraphic correlation, aiming to enhance the efficiency of geological interpretation and retain the matching accuracy of stratigraphic structures. However, standard wells are selected by hand in the course of traditional standard well selection, which will easily bring many uncertainties for subsequent interpretation of geological structures. In this paper, we propose a visual analytics system to support supervised standard well selection via a discrete choice model. Firstly, an adaptive blue noise sampling model is applied to determine spatial distribution of standard wells, and a stratigraphic correlation model is designed to measure the similarity between drilling wells from different attribute perspectives. Then, we utilize a discrete choice model to select standard wells with the spatial distribution and multiple attributes taken into consideration. Furthermore, several meaningful visualizations are designed allowing users to get deeper insights into the selection of standard wells, and a rich set of interactions are also provided enabling users to further optimize the discrete choice model. At last, a visualization framework is implemented to integrate the models and visual designs, by means of which the geological interpreters are able to visually select, evaluate and optimize the standard wells. The effectiveness of our work and its application values for geological interpretation are further demonstrated through case studies based on real-world datasets and interviews with domain experts.

Feature-Based Attentional Weighting and Re-weighting in the Absence of Visual Awareness.

Visual attention evolved as an adaptive mechanism allowing us to cope with a rapidly changing environment. It enables the facilitated processing of relevant information, often automatically and governed by implicit motives. However, despite recent advances in understanding the relationship between consciousness and visual attention, the functional scope of unconscious attentional control is still under debate. Here, we present a novel masking paradigm in which volunteers were to distinguish between varying orientations of a briefly presented, masked grating stimulus. Combining signal detection theory and subjective measures of awareness, we show that performance on unaware trials was consistent with visual selection being weighted towards repeated orientations of Gabor patches and reallocated in response to a novel unconsciously processed orientation. This was particularly present in trials in which the prior feature was strongly weighted and only if the novel feature was invisible. Thus, our results provide evidence that invisible orientation stimuli can trigger the reallocation of history-guided visual selection weights.

Objectification and vision: how images shape our early visual processes

Objectification involves treating someone (a subject) as a thing (an object). The role of images in perpetuating objectification has been discussed by feminist philosophers. However, the precise effect that images have on an individual's visual system is seldom explored. Kathleen Stock’s work is an exception—she describes certain images of women as causing viewers to develop an objectifying ‘gestalt’ which is then projected onto real-life women. However, she doesn’t specify the level of visual processing at which objectification occurs. In this paper, I propose that images can affect a viewer's early visual system. I will argue that if a viewer is exposed to a lot of images that depict women as sexual objects, this will bias their early visual selection mechanisms in a way that can result in an objectifying way of seeing. This is an important contribution to work on objectification as it incorporates empirical studies on vision and findings from philosophy of mind. It also examines some of the epistemic and moral consequences of objectification occurring at this early visual stage.

COLOR DUPLICATION IN LITHIUM DISILICATE RESTORATIONS FABRICATED BY CAD-CAM USING VISUAL AND INSTRUMENTAL SHADE MATCHING SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT Introduction: Color reproduction is one of the most challenging issues encountered by clinicians because of the complexity of visual properties of natural teeth. Objectives: This study aimed to assess color differences among intended and fabricated shades of lithium disilicate restorations fabricated by CAD-CAM after using visual and instrumental shade matching systems. Materials and Method: IPS Emax CAD blocks measuring (12.4mm width x 14.5mm length x 18 mm thickness) were cut under continuous water irrigation using diamond-impregnated slicing wheels mounted on a slow-speed saw microtome (Isomet; Buehler) to yield 16 rectangular specimens measuring (12.4 x 14.5x 1.5 mm). Then they were subjected to the crystallization cycle. Then IPS Emax glaze paste was applied with uniform thickness onto the crystallized specimen surface. Each master disk represented the color of a shade guide tab in the Vita Classic (16 shades). Shade selections for these master disks were carried out following visual and instrumental methods. Accordingly, 16 visual and 16 instrumental experimental disks were fabricated. After analysis, color differences (∆E) between the master and the fabricated ceramic discs were measured using the equation. Results: On comparing Visual Emax CAD and instrumental Emax CAD, the mean(∆E) for visual (2.96± 1.90) was lower than the mean(∆E) for instrumental (22.22± 4.73) with a significant difference between them p < 0.001. Conclusions: Visual shade selection using classical shade guide showed lower delta E than that of instrumental shade matching using Easyshade. Keywords: Color duplication, lithium disilicate, E-max, Visual, Instrumental. Running title: Color duplication using visual and instrumental methods.

Proof of concept: visual categorization of carotenoid pigmentation in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L) can predict stress response.

Carotenoid pigmentation in Salvelinus alpinus has been connected to stress responsiveness in earlier studies. This has, however, only been tested with time-consuming image analysis from photos. Here, we used quick visual categorization of carotenoid pigmentation to investigate the stress responsiveness of the extreme groups. The visually selected charr were then exposed to a net restraint stressor. Arctic charr with few spots also had a lower stress responsiveness compared to charr with many spots. Thus, visual selection could be used as a simple method within aquaculture.

Boldness and exploration vary between shell morphs but not environmental contexts in the snail Cepaea nemoralis

AbstractUnderstanding the maintenance of among‐individual behavioral variation in populations and predicting its consequences are key challenges in behavioral ecology. Studying the association between repeatable behaviors and other traits under selection may shed light on the underlying selective pressures. We used the model snail Cepaea nemoralis to examine whether individual behavior is associated with shell morph, a key trait that has been extensively studied in the context of thermal tolerance and predator avoidance, and which is known to be under strict genetic control in this species. We quantified proxies of boldness and exploration in snails of three morphs coming from two habitats with different thermal contexts. We show that both behaviors were repeatable at the among‐individual level (within‐state Rboldness = 0.22 [95% credible interval: 0.15; 0.29]; Rexploration = 0.20 [0.15; 0.25]). Behavior was associated with shell morph, with the darker morph (five‐banded) being consistently shyer and slower to explore. There was no evidence that thermal environment of origin influenced behavior. Snails became faster when test temperature increased; we found no evidence morphs differed in their thermal response. Boldness and exploration were correlated among individuals, forming a syndrome (r = 0.28 [0.10; 0.46]). The link we find between morph and boldness is compatible with visual selection by avian predators, assuming a positive association between boldness and morphological defense (phenotypic compensation hypothesis). The fact morph‐behaviors associations are consistent across environments, despite selection on morph, hint to a possible underlying genetic origin. Finally, we discuss how our findings combined with decades of evolutionary research make C. nemoralis a very valuable model to study the evolution of behavior in response to environmental changes.

Both feature comparisons and location comparisons are subject to bias.

Four experiments explore the generalizability of two different types of bias in visual comparison. The first type is a spatial congruency bias, in which two target stimuli are more likely to be classified as matching ('same') if they appear successively at the same location. The second type is an analytic bias, which varies depending on the overall similarity of the displays and the need to select specific parts from each object. Both types of bias had previously been demonstrated in comparisons based on shape and other visual features. The current tasks move beyond feature comparisons, requiring the comparison of the local positions of visual elements (dots or letters) that appear within each pattern. Given the privileged role of location in visual representations and attentional selection, it is important to test how visual comparisons of location differ from comparisons of shape and other features. The spatial congruency bias is replicated in the comparison of local positions and, as in previous experiments, its strength diminishes when the displays being compared are less similar to one another. Also, as demonstrated previously with letter comparisons, there is an analytic bias shifting responses toward 'different' when the displays being compared are less similar to one another. Responses are also shifted more toward 'same' in location comparisons relative to feature comparisons. The general pattern of results suggests that as more attentional selection is required in a comparison task, there is a stronger overall bias to respond 'different'.

Statistical learning affects the time courses of salience-driven and goal-driven selection.

The present study investigated how statistical regularities present in the display affected the time courses associated with salience-driven and goal-driven visual selection. In two experiments, participants were instructed to make a speeded saccade toward a prespecified target that was presented simultaneously with a distractor among multiple homogeneously oriented background lines. The distractor was presented more often at one location than at all other locations. We found that the statistical regularity regarding the distractor location affected visual selection very early, modulating the time courses associated with both salience-driven and goal-driven selection. These results suggest that statistical learning induces a continuous bias in visual selection, operating above and beyond salience-driven and goal-driven control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Translating Expectation into Visual Selection through a Beta-Synchronous Fronto-Parietal Neural Subnetwork

Top-down expectancy critically determines how fast sensory inputs are processed. Fiebelkorn & Kastner show that translating expectancy into fast stimulus processing is mediated by a subnetwork of beta-synchronized neurons across the fronto-parietal attention network. This finding suggests that precise spike timing determines how efficient fronto-parietal activity selects visual inputs.

ВОЗМОЖНОСТИ И ОГРАНИЧЕНИЯ ЭКСТРАФОВЕАЛЬНОГО ВОСПРИЯТИЯ: АНАЛИТИЧЕСКИЙ ОБЗОР

The article presents an analytical review of studies in the field of extrafoveal perception. The region of extrafoveal vision combines the parafovea and periphery of the retina, so extrafoveal perception is the perception of objects which projections are outside of the fovea. For a long time, it has been believed that extrafoveal vision, in contrast to foveal, has a lower acuity and resolution and is used mainly for preliminary analysis of the visual field and selection of relevant objects for their more thorough analysis in fovea. However, the literature shows that extrafoveal perception is much more interesting and autonomous process as it has been previously considered. The paper analyzes a number of works showing that it is possible to identify both specific features of simple stimuli and rather complex objects, such as faces or whole scenes, up to the possibility of their semantic analysis, even in extrafoveal vision. The review considers the history of studies on extrafoveal perception, from the earliest works (Hueck, 1840; Aubert, Foerster, 1857) to the most recent ones of the last 5 years. These works have analyzed the main factors influencing the effectiveness of extrafoveal vision, for example, cortical magnification factor, which reflects differences in the number of neurons in the visual cortex responsible for processing stimuli depending on the region of the retina: the closer the object is to the fovea, the more neurons are involved in its processing, and vice versa. Other factors determining the efficacy of extrafoveal perception include the following: crowding effect when the target object on the periphery surrounded by distractors is identified worse than a separately located stimulus; specific characteristics of a target and distractors (for example, contexts evoking pop-out effect). Crowding effect is also related to the question of correlating two forms of processing extrafoveal information: preattentive processing (parallel “bottom up” processing) and covert attention (moving the point of deeper analysis along the visual field without eye movements) which can be controlled up to some degree. The other factors influencing the effectiveness of extrafoveal perception concern the context of a task (categorical search in laboratory conditions, analysis of the real world scenes, reactions to extrafoveal stimuli during definite activity) and individual differences. Additionally, we have analyzed the works on the possibilities of training extrafoveal perception, which can affect both higher-level processes, for example, identification of the context of complex scenes, perception of emotions and categorical visual search, and lower-level visual functions, such as identification of spatial orientation, contrast perception and reduction of crowding effect.

Mind-wandering Is Accompanied by Both Local Sleep and Enhanced Processes of Spatial Attention Allocation.

Mind-wandering (MW) is a subjective, cognitive phenomenon, in which thoughts move away from the task toward an internal train of thoughts, possibly during phases of neuronal sleep-like activity (local sleep, LS). MW decreases cortical processing of external stimuli and is assumed to decouple attention from the external world. Here, we directly tested how indicators of LS, cortical processing, and attentional selection change in a pop-out visual search task during phases of MW. Participants’ brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography, MW was assessed via self-report using randomly interspersed probes. As expected, the performance decreased under MW. Consistent with the occurrence of LS, MW was accompanied by a decrease in high-frequency activity (HFA, 80–150 Hz) and an increase in slow wave activity (SWA, 1–6 Hz). In contrast, visual attentional selection as indexed by the N2pc component was enhanced during MW with the N2pc amplitude being directly linked to participants’ performance. This observation clearly contradicts accounts of attentional decoupling that would predict a decrease in attention-related responses to external stimuli during MW. Together, our results suggest that MW occurs during phases of LS with processes of attentional target selection being upregulated, potentially to compensate for the mental distraction during MW.

Self-Surpervised Tableware Grasp Learning from Visual Information and Grasp Pose Selection Considering Grasp Redundancy

Self-Surpervised Tableware Grasp Learning from Visual Information and Grasp Pose Selection Considering Grasp Redundancy

Gender Role Study in Participatory Variety Selection of Bread Wheat in Potential Growing Areas of Arsi in Ethiopia

Field experiment was carried out on three locations Dera, Iteya and Bekoji in Arsi zone of Ethiopia for two years (2012 &amp; 2013) to study gender role in variety selection. Individual farmers and breeders independently carried out visual selection of bread wheat varieties on field condition at maturity stage at each locations. Twenty one released bread wheat varieties were taken and planted for the study. Breeders and Twenty wheat producing farmers selected from each locations in which ten of them were women farmers and ten were men farmers carried out the variety selection for specific agro ecologies based on their own selection criteria. According to the result of this study both male and female farmers are equally important to select best wheat variety for their own agro ecology. Out of the first ten selected wheat varieties for each location more than half of them are selected both by male and female farmers in common. In other case, both male and female farmers were specific on some varieties, that means there was a variety which is only selected either by male or by female farmers. This may be related to difference in roles and responsibilities of men and women in a given house hold. Similarly there are also some varieties which are selected only by breeders in each locations in which neither male nor female farmers are selecting those varieties. In conclusion, besides breeders selection, considering the preference of both male and female farmers equally and inclusion of quality taste in our variety selection &amp; releasing procedure may improve the adoption rate of Bread wheat varieties. Not only for variety selection but also in all of our research work without considering gender role, our research results may be concluded wrongly and we cannot achieve sustainable agricultural development. Keywords: Gender role, participatory variety selection, Bread wheat, Improved variety DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/63-03 Publication date: January 31 st 2021

Электронно-микроскопические исследования распределения пор по диаметрам на сорбционной поверхности ультрафильтрационных мембран УАМ-50, УАМ-100, УПМ-К, УПМ-100

В работе обоснована актуальность заявленной тематики, определено место работы среди дру-гих публикаций в области исследования пористости мембран. На основе литературного обзора изуча-емой области и сформулированной цели проведен выбор исследуемых типов ультрафильтрационных мембран, представлены их основные характеристики (рабочее давление, удельный поток растворителя, коэффициент задерживания, рабочий диапазон рН, максимальная температура). Применена методика электронно-микроскопического исследования распределения пор по диаметрам на поверхности уль-трафильтрационных мембран УАМ-50, УАМ-100, УПМ-К, УПМ-100, включающая в себя фиксацию изображения поверхности мембран с помощью электронного микроскопа, перенос в среду автомати-зированного проектирования AutoCad 2018, визуальный выбор четырех равномерных зон, площадью по 1∙106 нм2 с описыванием окружностью пор при использовании программы, экспорт данных с вычис-лением радиальных размеров на поверхностном (активном) слое мембраны в нм. Посредством про-грамной функции AutoCad 2018 находяться главные характеристики (диаметр, площадь каждого эле-мента), затем определялся коэффициент засоренности. Для оценки погрешности определения размеров пор анализировали 5 электронных изображений, полученных для различных участков поверхности ис-следуемой мембраны. Процедуру обработки каждого электронного изображения повторяли 10 раз. В результате статистической обработки результатов относительное стандартное отклонение не превы-шало 0.1. С помощью функции описательной статистики программой Microsoft Excel 2010 определя-лись среднеквадратичное отклонение, средний диаметр пор и производилось построение гистограмм, графиков функции плотности распределения вероятностей и нормального распределения для исследу-емых мембран от распределения диаметров пор.Установлено, что распределение пор по диаметрам на поверхности активного слоя исследуе-мых ультрафильтрационных мембран описывается законом нормального распределения (закон Гаусса). Получены эмпирические выражения функции нормального распределения пор по диаметрам. Анализ экспериментальных исследований методом электронной микроскопии, стандартных средств обработки данных Microsoft Excel 2010, AutoCad 2018 показал, что для образцов мембран УАМ-50, УАМ-100, УПМ-К, УПМ-100 средний диаметр пор на поверхности находится в интервале от 54 до 70 нм

Updating the Breeding Philosophy of Wheat to Fusarium Head Blight (FHB): Resistance Components, QTL Identification, and Phenotyping-A Review.

Fusarium head blight has posed continuous risks to wheat production worldwide due to its effects on yield, and the fungus provides additional risks with production of toxins. Plant resistance is thought to be the most powerful method. The host plant resistance is complex, Types I–V were reported. From the time of spraying inoculation (Type I), all resistance types can be identified and used to determine the total resistance. Type II resistance (at point inoculation) describes the spread of head blight from the ovary to the other parts of the head. Therefore, it cannot solve the resistance problem alone. Type II QTL (quantitative trait locus) Fhb1 on 3BS from Sumai 3 descendant CM82036 secures about the same resistance level as Type I QTL does on 5AS and 5ASc in terms of visual symptoms, FDK (Fusarium damaged kernel), and deoxynivalenol response. Recently, increasing evidence supports the association of deoxynivalenol (DON) content and low kernel infection with FHB (Fusarium head blight) resistance (Types III and IV), as QTL for individual resistance types has been identified. In plant breeding practice, the role of visual selection remains vital, but the higher correlations for FDK/DON make it possible to select low-DON genotypes via FDK value. For phenotyping, the use of more independent inocula (isolates or mixtures) makes resistance evaluation more reliable. The large heterogeneity of the mapping populations is a serious source of underestimating genetic effects. Therefore, the increasing of homogeneity is a necessity. As no wheat varieties exist with full resistance to FHB, crops must be supported by proper agronomy and fungicide use.

VISUAL MEDIA UTILIZATION IN MASTERING ENGLISH VOCABULARY OF HEARING-IMPAIRED STUDENTS

Hearing-impaired students are visual learners. That’s why the visual media selection will be the most appropriate media assistance for teachers, especially in teaching vocabulary. This research aimed to investigate the use of visual media and teacher challenges in developing English vocabulary for hearing-impaired students. This research used a qualitative descriptive approach. The participants of the research were an English teacher and eight hearing-impaired students in the 8th grade of SMPLB N Banjarnegara. The data were obtained through observation, interviews, and students’ self-reports. The researchers found that the teacher used limited visual media at around the combination of a whiteboard, images, picture dictionary, and realia. The teacher used a whiteboard to write and draw the material. Images and picture dictionary were used to give an overview and insight to the students and sign language was used as language instruction in the teaching process. Less practice pronouncing the words and misunderstanding on reading the lips movements became the challenges for the teacher. Furthermore, the teacher has less technical skills to utilize technological-based media in delivering the materials.