Symmetry Modulates the Amplitude Spectrum Slope Effect on Visual Preference

Within the spectrum of a natural image, the amplitude of modulation decreases with spatial frequency. The speed of such an amplitude decrease, or the amplitude spectrum slope, of an image affects the perceived aesthetic value. Additionally, a human observer would consider a symmetric image more appealing than they would an asymmetric one. We investigated how these two factors jointly affect aesthetic preferences by manipulating both the amplitude spectrum slope and the symmetric level of images to assess their effects on aesthetic preference on a 6-point Likert scale. Our results showed that the preference ratings increased with the symmetry level but had an inverted U-shaped relation to amplitude spectrum slope. In addition, a strong interaction existed between symmetry level and amplitude spectrum slope on preference rating, in that symmetry can amplify the amplitude spectrum slope’s effects. A quadratic function of the spectrum slope can describe such effects. That is, preference is an inverted U-shaped function of spectrum slope whose intercept is determined by the number of symmetry axes. The modulation depth of the quadratic function manifests the interaction between the two factors.

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Amplitude Spectrum Slope is More Important than Orientation in Rapid Scene Categorization

Journal of Vision ◽

10.1167/12.9.844 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 844-844

Author(s):

R. V. Ringer ◽

B. C. Hansen ◽

K. Byrne ◽

A. M. Larson ◽

J. Zuercher ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Amplitude Spectrum ◽

Scene Categorization ◽

Spectrum Slope

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Discrimination of amplitude spectrum slope in the fovea and parafovea and the local amplitude distributions of natural scene imagery

Journal of Vision ◽

10.1167/6.7.3 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 6 (7) ◽

pp. 3 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Bruce C. Hansen ◽

Robert F. Hess

Keyword(s):

Amplitude Spectrum ◽

Natural Scene ◽

Spectrum Slope

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Eccentricity-dependent sensitivity loss of amplitude spectrum slope discrimination.

Journal of Vision ◽

10.1167/13.9.1237 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 1237-1237

Author(s):

A. Johnson ◽

B. Richard ◽

D. Ellemberg ◽

B. Hansen

Keyword(s):

Amplitude Spectrum ◽

Sensitivity Loss ◽

Spectrum Slope

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Different spatial frequency bands selectively signal for natural image statistics in the early visual system

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00288.2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 108 (8) ◽

pp. 2160-2172 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Bruce C. Hansen ◽

Aaron P. Johnson ◽

Dave Ellemberg

Keyword(s):

Spatial Frequency ◽

Broad Band ◽

Amplitude Spectrum ◽

Structural Complexity ◽

Luminance Contrast ◽

Natural Image ◽

Natural Image Statistics ◽

Natural Scene ◽

Image Statistics ◽

Neural Processes

Early visual evoked potentials (VEPs) measured in humans have recently been observed to be modulated by the image statistics of natural scene imagery. Specifically, the early VEP is dominated by a strong positivity when participants view minimally complex natural scene imagery, with the magnitude of that component being modulated by luminance contrast differences across spatial frequency (i.e., the slope of the amplitude spectrum). For scenes high in structural complexity, the early VEP is dominated by a prominent negativity that exhibits little dependency on luminance contrast. However, since natural scene imagery is broad band in terms of spatial frequency, it is not known whether the above-mentioned modulation results from a complex interaction within or between the early neural processes tuned to different bands of spatial frequency. Here, we sought to address this question by measuring early VEPs (specifically, the C1, P1, and N1 components) while human participants viewed natural scene imagery that was filtered to contain specific bands of spatial frequency information. The results show that the C1 component is largely unmodulated by the luminance statistics of natural scene imagery (being only measurable when such stimuli were made to contain high spatial frequencies). The P1 and N1, on the other hand, were observed to exhibit strong spatial frequency-dependent modulation to the luminance statistics of natural scene imagery. The results therefore suggest that the dependency of early VEPs on natural image statistics results from an interaction between the early neural processes tuned to different bands of spatial frequency.

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Center-surround effects in human discrimination of amplitude spectrum slope

Journal of Vision ◽

10.1167/7.9.967 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 7 (9) ◽

pp. 967-967

Author(s):

A. Johnson ◽

B. Hansen ◽

D. Ellemberg

Keyword(s):

Amplitude Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Slope

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Benefits of a trans-saccadic masks: Preventing the desensitization effects of amplitude spectrum slope discrimination when using physical masks

Journal of Vision ◽

10.1167/11.11.1195 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 1195-1195

Author(s):

B. Richard ◽

A. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Amplitude Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Slope

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Plane blast wave interaction with an elongated straight and inclined heat-generated inhomogeneity

Journal of Fluid Mechanics ◽

10.1017/jfm.2018.495 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 851 ◽

pp. 245-267 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S. Sembian ◽

M. Liverts ◽

N. Apazidis

Keyword(s):

Blast Wave ◽

High Speed ◽

Quadratic Function ◽

Wave Interaction ◽

Numerical Data ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Blast Waves ◽

Incident Plane ◽

Gradual Loss ◽

Two Factors

The unstable evolution of an elongated elliptically shaped inhomogeneity that is embedded in ambient air and aligned both normal and at an angle to an incident plane blast wave of impact Mach number 2.15 is investigated both experimentally and numerically. The elliptic inhomogeneities and the blast waves are generated using gas heating and exploding wire technique and their interaction is captured optically using shadowgraph method. While two symmetric counter-rotating vortices due to Richtmyer–Meshkov instability are observed for the straight interaction, the formation of a train of vortices similar to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, introducing asymmetry into the flow field, are observed for an inclined interaction. During the early phase of the interaction process in the straight case, the growth of the counter-rotating vortices (based on the sequence of images obtained from the high-speed camera) and circulation (calculated with the aid of numerical data) are found to be linear in both space and time. Moreover, the normalized circulation is independent of the inhomogeneity density and the ellipse thickness, enabling the formulation of a unique linear fit equation. Conversely, the circulation for an inclined case follows a quadratic function, with each vortex in the train estimated to move with a different velocity directly related to its size at that instant. Two factors influencing the quadratic nature are identified: the reduction in strength of the transmitted shock thereby generating vortices with reduced vorticity, along with the gradual loss of vorticity of the earlier-generated vortices.

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Aesthetic Judgement of Orientation in Modern Art

i-Perception ◽

10.1068/i0447aap ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 18-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

George Mather

Keyword(s):

Modern Art ◽

Amplitude Spectrum ◽

Fourier Amplitude ◽

Physical Measure ◽

Aesthetic Judgement ◽

Correct Orientation ◽

Perfect Performance ◽

Fourier Amplitude Spectrum ◽

The Impact ◽

Spectrum Slope

When creating an artwork, the artist makes a decision regarding the orientation at which the work is to be hung based on their aesthetic judgement and the message conveyed by the piece. Is the impact or aesthetic appeal of a work diminished when it is hung at an incorrect orientation? To investigate this question, Experiment 1 asked whether naïve observers can appreciate the correct orientation (as defined by the artist) of 40 modern artworks, some of which are entirely abstract. Eighteen participants were shown 40 paintings in a series of trials. Each trial presented all four cardinal orientations on a computer screen, and the participant was asked to select the orientation that was most attractive or meaningful. Results showed that the correct orientation was selected in 48% of trials on average, significantly above the 25% chance level, but well below perfect performance. A second experiment investigated the extent to which the 40 paintings contained recognisable content, which may have mediated orientation judgements. Recognition rates varied from 0% for seven of the paintings to 100% for five paintings. Orientation judgements in Experiment 1 correlated significantly with “meaningful” content judgements in Experiment 2: 42% of the variance in orientation judgements in Experiment 1 was shared with recognition of meaningful content in Experiment 2. For the seven paintings in which no meaningful content at all was detected, 41% of the variance in orientation judgements was shared with variance in a physical measure of image content, Fourier amplitude spectrum slope. For some paintings, orientation judgements were quite consistent, despite a lack of meaningful content. The origin of these orientation judgements remains to be identified.

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