Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “SIZE PERCEPTION”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,405 records · Page 78Linked to original sources

Quantitative evaluations in gray crows: generalization of the relative attribute "larger set".

Four gray crows were trained to choose the larger of two sets presented to them within the "1-12" range. The color, form, and size of the stimulus elements on cards, as well as the patterns of their disposition, were varied constantly during training, while at the same time prohibiting the use of extraneous features not relating to the number of elements. In order to exclude choice on the basis of the total area of the elements, series of presentations with variation of the ratio of the number of elements and their total area were carried out: in half of the presentations the larger set consisted of small elements, and the smaller set of large elements; in the second half, the reverse. In this range all of the birds demonstrated a high accuracy of evaluations (75.3 +/- 2.4%), including when there were minimal differences between the sets to be compared. Thus, in the "1-12" range, the crows were found to be capable of accurately comparing sets precisely on the basis of the number of elements in them. When a transition was made to a new "10-20" range, all of the crows demonstrated a successful transfer of the developed reaction (71.5 +/- 2.3%). However, when the ratio of the number of elements and their total area was varied, only two birds were able to cope with this task (71.9 +/- 3.6%). Overall, the results obtained indicate a capacity of crows for the formation of the concept "larger set," and are regarded as a manifestation of a high level of development of reflective activity.

Animals↗

Factors affecting perceived tumor volumes in magnetic resonance imaging.

Irregularly structured brain tumors, such as glioblastomas, challenge attempts to visualize and quantify their three dimensional structure. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) represents one tool for attempting to noninvasively track tumor size. MR images demonstrate widely varying perceived tumor margins. In addition, adjunct therapies, such as the administration of steroids, greatly affect the volumes perceived in images formed by certain pulse sequences. In this study tumors were grown in 15 dogs and the tumor size tracked for a period of time. The dogs were placed on dexamethasone for a week and another series of scans was obtained. No other therapies were provided. The data for visualized tumor size are provided for T1, T2, and proton density. Weighted images are provided and the relationships between the scans are discussed.

Animals↗

Grasping two-dimensional images and three-dimensional objects in visual-form agnosia.

Visually guided prehension is controlled by a specialized visuomotor system in the posterior parietal cortex. It is not clear how this system responds to visual stimuli that lack three-dimensional (3D) structure, such as two-dimensional (2D) images of objects. We asked a neurological patient with visual-form agnosia (patient D.F.) to grasp 3D objects and 2D images of the same objects and to estimate their sizes manually. D.F.'s grip aperture was scaled to the sizes of the 2D and 3D target stimuli, but her manual estimates were poorly correlated with object size. Control participants demonstrated appropriate size-scaling in both the grasping and manual size-estimation tasks, but tended to use a smaller peak aperture when reaching to grasp 2D images. We conclude that: (1) the dorsal stream grasping system does not discriminate in a fundamental way between 2D and 3D objects, and (2) neurologically normal participants might adopt a different visuomotor strategy for target objects that are recognized to be ungraspable. These findings are consistent with the view that the dorsal grasping system accesses a pragmatic, spatial representation of the target object, whereas the ventral system accesses a more comprehensive, volumetric description of the object.

Adult↗

Prehension movements in the macaque monkey: effects of perturbation of object size and location.

While the neural bases of prehension have been extensively studied in monkeys, a few kinematic studies have examined their prehension behavior. Recently (Roy et al. 2000, 2002), we have described the kinematics of reaching and grasping in freely behaving monkeys under normal conditions by applying the high-resolution recording techniques (Optotrak system) and behavioral paradigms used in humans. Here we determined whether online movement reorganization observed in monkeys following sudden changes of either object size or location at movement onset is similar to that observed in humans. We found that changing object size led to rapid on-flight re-calibration of the different movement parameters, eventually preserving the unitary aspect of the movement with a minor time cost. By contrast, a shift in object location triggered a massive time-consuming reorganization. Re-directed movements appeared as a concatenation of two sub-movements: a first one directed to the initial object and a second one directed to the new object location. These findings first complement our earlier studies in providing further evidence of the similarities between monkey and human prehension. Second, they suggest that the two components of prehension, reaching and grasping, interact through coordination mechanisms that are more efficient to correct for size than for location perturbation. This difference may reflect a hierarchical organization in which reaching would be the subordinate of grasping in both primate species.

Animals↗

Estimation of temporal resolution of object identification in human vision.

The purpose of the study was to estimate the temporal processing capacity of human object identification under different stimulus conditions. Objects, either facial images or characters, were shown in a rapid sequence on a computer display using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) method. One of the images was a target and the other images were distracters. The task of the observer was to identify the target. A staircase algorithm was used to determine the threshold frequency of image presentation in the RSVP sequence. The threshold frequency was determined as a function of image contrast, size, and mean luminance. The results showed that the threshold frequency, around 10 Hz for faces (100 ms per face) and about 25 Hz for characters (40 ms per character), was independent of contrast and size at medium and high contrast values, medium and large sizes, and high luminances, but decreased at very low contrasts or small sizes and medium or low levels of luminance. Computer simulations with a model, in which temporal integration limited perceptual speed, suggest that the experimentally found difference in processing time for faces and characters is not due to the physical differences of these stimulus types, but it seems that face-specific sites in the brain process facial information slower than object-specific areas process character information. Contrast, size, and luminance affect the signal-to-noise ratio and the temporal characteristics of low-level neural signal representation. Thus, the results suggest that at low contrasts, low luminances and small sizes, the processing speed of object identification is limited by low-level factors, while at high contrasts and luminances, and at large sizes, processing speed is limited by high-order processing stages. Processing speed seems to depend on stimulus type so that for faces processing is slower than for characters.

Algorithms↗

Manual asymmetries in visually primed grasping.

Previous research has shown that the task irrelevant size of familiar objects facilitates compatible precision and power grip responses. The present study examined whether the task irrelevant size of novel objects produces the same compatibility effect. However, the main objective of the study was to investigate whether visually primed precision and power grips are manually asymmetric. Experiment 1 showed that the size of a novel prime object does facilitate compatible precision and power grips, even when both the object itself and the grasp type are irrelevant to the current task. However, this effect was only found when the precision grip was made with the right hand (RH) and the power grip was made with the left hand (LH). When these grips were made with the opposite hands, the effect was absent. Experiment 2 replicated the LH bias for large objects and the RH bias for small objects when power and precision grip responses were replaced with simple LH and RH button-press responses. It appears that the two hemispheres are specialised with regard to precision and power compatible objects.

Functional Laterality↗

Acquiring and adapting a novel audiomotor map in human grasping.

For sensorimotor transformations to be executed accurately, there must be mechanisms that can both establish and modify mappings between sensory and motor coordinates. Such mechanisms were investigated in normal subjects using a reach-to-grasp task. First, we replaced the normal input of visual information about object size with auditory information, i.e., we attempted to establish an 'audiomotor map'. The size of the object was log linearly related to the frequency of the sound, and we measured the maximum grip aperture (MGA) during the reaching phase to determine if the subjects had learned the relationship. Second, we changed the frequency-object size relationship to study adaptation in the newly acquired map. Our results demonstrate that learning of an audiomotor map consisted of three distinct phases: during the first stage (approximately 10-15 trials) subjects simply used MGAs large enough to grasp any reasonably sized object and there were no overt signs of learning. During the second stage, there was a period of fast learning where the slope of the relationship between MGA and object size became steeper until the third stage where the slope was constant. In contrast, when sensorimotor adaptation was studied in the established audiomotor map, there was rapid learning from the start of a size perturbation. We conclude that different learning strategies are employed when sensorimotor transformations are established compared to when existing transformations are modified.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Grasping the Müller-Lyer illusion: not a change in perceived length.

Peak grip aperture has often been used to quantify the influence of illusions on judgments of size for action. However, a larger peak grip aperture need not mean that the object looks larger. It could also mean that it was grasped more carefully. These two possibilities can be distinguished on the basis of the velocity of grip closure just before contact. We let people grasp a bar that was placed on the shaft of a Müller-Lyer figure. The Müller-Lyer figure influenced the peak grip aperture. It did not influence the velocity of grip closure in the way that one would expect if size were mis-perceived. Thus there is no reason to assume that the perceived size guides the way that we reach and grasp an object.

Analysis of Variance↗

Movement kinematics in prehension are affected by grasping objects of different mass.

Previous research has identified that prehension is composed of a reach and a grasp component and that the position and size of the object can independently affect each. However, no effects on prior to contact prehension kinematics have been reported for manipulations in object mass. We felt that this 'lack of a finding' was surprising, as a more accurate grip position on heavier objects would prevent slippage and rotation when lifting the object. Therefore, we hypothesized that increased object mass would effect the grasp component movement kinematics prior to contact in preparation for a stable final grip placement on the object. We report two experiments in which participants reached, grasped and lifted objects of various size and mass, and their movement kinematics were recorded using a motion tracking system. The results showed that the mass of the object significantly influenced prior-to-contact grasp kinematics. Both studies showed that the heavy compared to light objects caused increased peak grasp aperture, a final finger and thumb placement on the object that more closely passed through the object centre of mass, increased lift delay and reduced peak lift velocity. The data are discussed in terms of how object mass influences the reach, grasp and lift components of prehensile movement.

Adult↗

The size of the visual size cue used for programming manipulative forces during precision grip.

We used a perturbation technique to quantify the contribution of visual size cues to the programming of target force when lifting an object. Our results indicate that the nervous system attaches a reasonable weight to visual size cues when programming the target grip force for a novel object. In a subsequent lift of the same object, however, the confidence attached to the visual size cue fell dramatically. It is not clear whether the decrease in the use of size information was accelerated by the presence of a cue conflict or whether the fall represents the normal shift towards the use of a memory-based representation for programming grip force. In a second experiment, we used the "size-weight illusion" to explore the relationship between the verbal report of an object's weight and the programming of the grip and load force. We found that erroneous motor programming (as indexed by a number of measures) was neither necessary nor sufficient for the size-weight illusion to occur. These findings call for a re-evaluation of a previous explanation for the size-weight illusion. We suggest that the illusion arises because the cognitive system attempts to rationalise the fact that objects of apparently equal density but different size feel as if they have the same weight.

Adult↗

Looking at the task in hand: vergence eye movements and perceived size.

A retinal afterimage of the hand changes size when the same unseen hand is moved backwards and forwards in darkness. We demonstrate that arm movements per se are not sufficient to cause a size change and that vergence eye movements are a necessary and sufficient condition for the presence of the illusory size change. We review previous literature to illustrate that changing limb position in the dark alters vergence angle and we explain the illusion via this mechanism. A discussion is provided on why altering limb position causes a change in vergence and we speculate on the underlying mechanisms.

Convergence, Ocular↗

Limits of the dual-strategy hypothesis in an isometric plantar flexion contraction.

Movements have been described as being governed by a speed-sensitive (SS) or speed-insensitive (SI) strategy. The SS strategy is used when the subject controls, either explicitly or implicitly, movement speed or time. In contrast, the SI strategy is utilized when there is no intention or requirement to control movement speed. The different strategies demonstrate a specific relationship between torque trajectories and muscle activity. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of accuracy and force level on strategy selection. Ten healthy adults were instructed to generate isometric pulse contractions of the right soleus at 20%, 40%, and 60% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) to reach five target sizes of percentage MVC (4%, 8%, 12%, 16%, 20%). The following results were observed: (1) there was no difference in time to peak force, peak dF/dt, slope of force, and electromyographic (EMG) measures between the 12%, 16%, and 20% target sizes; (2) differences were noted, however, between the 12%, 16%, and 20% targets and the smaller targets; (3) for the dependent measures there were significant differences between each force level. No difference between the larger targets implies that subjects do not need to implement a strategy and suggests an upper limit to the dual-strategy hypothesis. The difference between the smaller and larger targets and the difference between the force levels is indicative of an SS strategy. When asked to use different force levels, subjects controlled the rate of rise of force and regulated time to peak force. Between target sizes, force and time were modulated equally.

Adult↗

Dissociated neglect for objective and subjective sizes.

We examined the effect of line length and viewing distance on the line bisection performance in near space in five patients with left unilateral spatial neglect following right parietal lesions. A line bisection task by fixation was devised to avoid the influence of manual responses. The rightward deviation measured in visual angle increased linearly as a function of the visual angle of lines 150 mm or more long. This linearity, however, did not hold for lines of 100 mm or less. The deviation measured in length was nearly constant for each of these short lengths, even when the visual angle was varied at different viewing distances. The patients therefore discriminated the objective lengths of the short lines. For small objects, neglect patients may distribute attention mainly on the coordinates scaled for objective size.

Aged↗

Biased competition and visual search: the role of luminance and size contrast.

The biased-competition theory of attention proposes that objects compete for cortical representation in a mutually inhibitory network; competition is biased in favor of the attended item. Here we test two predictions derived from the biased-competition theory. First we assessed whether increasing an object's relative brightness (luminance contrast) biased competition in favor of (i.e., prioritized) the brighter object. Second we assessed whether increasing an object's size biased competition in favor of the larger object. In fulfillment of these aims we used an attentional capture paradigm to test whether a featural singleton (an item unique with respect to a feature such as size or brightness) can impact attentional priority even when those features are irrelevant to finding the target. The results support the prediction that a singleton with respect to luminance contrast receives attentional prioritization and extend the biased-competition account to include size contrast, because a large singleton also receives attentional prioritization.

Attention↗

Quantity-based judgments in the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris).

We examined the ability of domestic dogs to choose the larger versus smaller quantity of food in two experiments. In experiment 1, we investigated the ability of 29 dogs (results from 18 dogs were used in the data analysis) to discriminate between two quantities of food presented in eight different combinations. Choices were simultaneously presented and visually available at the time of choice. Overall, subjects chose the larger quantity more often than the smaller quantity, but they found numerically close comparisons more difficult. In experiment 2, we tested two dogs from experiment 1 under three conditions. In condition 1, we used similar methods from experiment 1 and tested the dogs multiple times on the eight combinations from experiment 1 plus one additional combination. In conditions 2 and 3, the food was visually unavailable to the subjects at the time of choice, but in condition 2, food choices were viewed simultaneously before being made visually unavailable, and in condition 3, they were viewed successively. In these last two conditions, and especially in condition 3, the dogs had to keep track of quantities mentally in order to choose optimally. Subjects still chose the larger quantity more often than the smaller quantity when the food was not simultaneously visible at the time of choice. Olfactory cues and inadvertent cuing by the experimenter were excluded as mechanisms for choosing larger quantities. The results suggest that, like apes tested on similar tasks, some dogs can form internal representations and make mental comparisons of quantity.

Animals↗