S1 – A scene is more than the sum of its objects: The mechanisms of object-object and object-scene integration
Organizer(s): Liad Mudrik, Tel Aviv University and Melissa Võ, Goethe University Frankfurt
Time/Room: Friday, May 19, 2017, 12:00 – 2:00 pm, Talk Room 1
Our visual world is much more complex than most laboratory experiments make us believe. Nevertheless, this complexity turns out not to be a drawback, but actually a feature, because complex real-world scenes have defined spatial and semantic properties which allow us to efficiently perceive and interact with our environment. In this symposium we will present recent advances in assessing how scene-object and object-object relations influence processing, while discussing the necessary conditions for deciphering such relations. By considering the complexity of real-world scenes as information that can be exploited, we can develop new approaches for examining real-world scene perception. More…
S2 – The Brain Correlates of Perception and Action: from Neural Activity to Behavior
Organizer(s): Simona Monaco, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento & Annalisa Bosco, Dept of Pharmacy and Biotech, University of Bologna
Time/Room: Friday, May 19, 2017, 12:00 – 2:00 pm, Pavilion
This symposium offers a comprehensive view of the cortical and subcortical structures involved in perceptual-motor integration for eye and hand movements in contexts that resemble real life situations. By gathering scientists from neurophysiology to neuroimaging and psychophysics we provide an understanding of how vision is used to guide action from the neuronal level to behavior. This knowledge pushes our understanding of visually-guided motor control outside the constraints of the laboratory and into contexts that we daily encounter in the real world. More…
S3 – How can you be so sure? Behavioral, computational, and neuroscientific perspectives on metacognition in perceptual decision-making
Organizer(s): Megan Peters, University of California Los Angeles
Time/Room: Friday, May 19, 2017, 2:30 – 4:30 pm, Talk Room 1
Evaluating our certainty in a memory, thought, or perception seems as easy as answering the question, “Are you sure?” But how our brains make these determinations remains unknown. Specifically, does the brain use the same information to answer the questions, “What do you see?” and, “Are you sure?” What brain areas are responsible for doing these calculations, and what rules are used in the process? Why are we sometimes bad at judging the quality of our memories, thoughts, or perceptions? These are the questions we will try to answer in this symposium. More…
S4 – The Role of Ensemble Statistics in the Visual Periphery
Organizer(s): Brian Odegaard, University of California-Los Angeles
Time/Room: Friday, May 19, 2017, 2:30 – 4:30 pm, Pavilion
The past decades have seen the growth of a tremendous amount of research into the human visual system’s capacity to encode “summary statistics” of items in the world. One recent proposal in the literature has focused on the promise of ensemble statistics to provide an explanatory account of subjective experience in the visual periphery (Cohen, Dennett, & Kanwisher, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2016). This symposium will address how ensemble statistics are encoded outside the fovea, and to what extent this capacity explains our experience of the majority of our visual field. More…
S5 – Cutting across the top-down-bottom-up dichotomy in attentional capture research
Organizer(s): J. Eric T. Taylor, Brain and Mind Institute at Western University
Time/Room: Friday, May 19, 2017, 5:00 – 7:00 pm, Talk Room 1
Research on attentional selection describes the various factors that determine what information is ignored and what information is processed. Broadly speaking, researchers have adopted two explanations for how this occurs, which emphasize either automatic or controlled processing, often presenting evidence that is mutually contradictory. This symposium presents new evidence from five speakers that address this controversy from non-dichotomous perspectives. More…
S6 – Virtual Reality and Vision Science
Organizer(s): Bas Rokers, University of Wisconsin – Madison & Karen B. Schloss, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Time/Room: Friday, May 19, 2017, 5:00 – 7:00 pm, Pavilion
Virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) research can answer scientific questions that were previously difficult or impossible to address. VR/AR may also provide novel methods to assist those with visual deficits and treat visual disorders. After a brief introduction by the organizers (Bas Rokers & Karen Schloss), 5 speakers representing both academia and industry will each give a 20-minute talk, providing an overview of existing research and identify promising new directions. The session will close with a 15 minute panel to deepen the dialog between industry and vision science. Topics include sensory integration, perception in naturalistic environments, and mixed reality. Symposium attendees may learn how to incorporate AR/VR into their research, identify current issues of interest to both academia and industry, and consider avenues of inquiry that may open with upcoming technological advances. More…