title: Flicker is a primitive visual attribute in visual search.
abstract: At the earliest processing stages, visual stimuli are decomposed by a set of filters tuned to specific values of such attributes as colour, orientation, and motion. These filters have been characterised both neurophysiologically and behaviourally. The single exception is the attribute of flicker that has been characterised neurophysiologically but not behaviourally. Using a visual search paradigm, the authors provide the first behavioural demonstration that flicker is indeed a primitive attribute used by the visual system in stimulus encoding. Consistent with the temporal contrast-sensitivity function, sensitivity to flicker was highest at about 10 Hz and decreased as the flicker rate was either increased or decreased.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada. tspalek@sfu.ca
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Spalek
authors.forename: Jun-ichiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kawahara
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Lollo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005425:Flicker Fusion / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult