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Published February 12, 2007 | Published
Journal Article Open

Contrast thresholds for component motion with full and poor attention

Abstract

We compare luminance-contrast-masking thresholds for fully and poorly attended stimuli, controlling attention with a demanding concurrent task. We use dynamic displays composed of discrete spatiotemporal wavelets, comparing three conditions ("single," "parallel," and "random"). In contrast to static displays, we do not find that attention modulates the "dipper" regime for masks of low luminance contrast. Nor does attention alter direction-selective masking by multiple wavelets moving in random directions, a condition designed to isolate effects on component motion. However, direction-selective masking by multiple wavelets moving in parallel is significantly reduced by attention. As the latter condition is expected to excite both component and pattern motion mechanisms, this implies that attention may alter the visual representation of pattern motion. In addition, attention exhibits its well-known effect of reducing lateral masking between nearby spatiotemporal wavelets.

Additional Information

Copyright © 2007 by ARVO, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Received October 25, 2005; published February 12, 2007. We thank Geraint Rees and Christof Koch for helpful comments. N.T. was funded by grants from NIMH, NSF, the Keck Foundation, and the Moore Foundation.

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September 14, 2023
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