Documentation of the Development of Various Visuomotor Responses in Typically Reared Kittens and Those Reared With Early Selected Visual Exposure by Use of a New Procedure

A new procedure was used to study the development of gaze (responses to moving targets or laser spots in normal kittens, those that had been reared in total darkness to 6 weeks of age, and others that received a period of monocular deprivation (MD). Gaze responses were observed to all stimuli in normal kittens at between 25–30 days of age and striking responses occurred on the same day or the next. Despite slow acquisition of spatial vision in the dark reared kittens over 3 months, they were able to follow and even strike at moving visual stimuli within a day of their initial exposure to light. By contrast, for a week following a period of MD, kittens showed no gaze or striking responses to moving stimuli when using their previously deprived eye. The very different profiles of acquisition of visuomotor skills and spatial vision in visually deprived kittens point to a dissociation between the neuronal populations that support these functions.

Do we look at a threatening person’s face? The relationship between perception and observation of walking strangers

Person perception research predominantly focuses on faces as stimuli, and less attention is paid to full body, moving, stimuli and how our perceptions of that person might affect the way we observe unknown people. Here, we present two studies and register a third. In Study One, 27 raters observed 12 videos of female targets walking towards camera for 10 seconds and rated how ‘threatening’, ‘attractive’ and ‘masculine’ the target individual was. In Study Two, 30 raters observed 22 male and female targets in the same format with the same ratings. The observation of the targets in both studies was recorded on an eyetracker and the percentage of each second spent watching the head, trunk, and legs was recorded. In both studies time spent observing the targets’ head decreased over time. In Study One perception ratings affected time spent observing the head and ratings interacted with change in observation over time. In Study Two no effects were found. Given these inconsistent findings and methodological differences between the studies, here we register a Study Three using two samples of 30 participants and Study Two’s methodology to attempt to support either of the previous studies.

Predictability of sinusoidally moving stimuli does not improve the accuracy of the accommodative response

Previous research work suggests that predictable target motion such as sinusoidal movement can be anticipated by the visual system, thereby improving the accommodative response. The validity of predictable motion for studying human dynamic accommodation is sometimes put into question. The aim of this work was to assess the effect of anticipation along with learning (and motivation, etc.) and fatigue (and boredom, loss of attention, etc.) on dynamic accommodation experiments from a practical perspective. Specifically, changes in amplitude and temporal phase lag were estimated within and between trials as 9 adult observers were instructed to focus on a stimulus that oscillated sinusoidally towards and away from the eye at specific temporal frequencies. On average, amplitude decreased whereas phase increased within trials. No evidence of anticipation or learning was observed either within or between trials. Fatigue consistently dominated anticipation and learning within the course of each trial. Even if the eye is equipped by a prediction operator as it is often assumed, fatigue confounds the results from dynamic accommodation experiments more than anticipation or learning.

Controlled Threat Accelerates Motion Perceived Speed

To presumably trigger controlled threats; we installed virtual flames in front of our moving stimuli; in conclusion, the average perceived speed is highly boosted. Lengthy exhalations can reduce the arousal and therefore putting the threat under control, see reference 3. Deep exhalations, however, boost the motion perceived speed, see reference 4. Since our ultra-small sensor senses lengthier exhalation periods during the presentation of the virtual flames; together, we theorized that controlled but not uncontrolled threats catalyze the motion perceived speed.