This study used peripheral precueing to explore the effect of covert transient attention on performance in spatial resolution tasks. Experiments 1 (Landolt-square) and 2 ('broken-line') measured gap resolution and Experiment 3 measured vernier resolution. In all three tasks the target was presented alone in a large number of possible locations, ranging from 1.5-6 degrees of eccentricity in the ...

We investigate a highly sensitive optical sensor based on two cascaded microring resonators exploiting the Vernier effect. The architecture consists of two microrings with a slight difference in their free spectral ranges. This allows the generation of the Vernier effect for achieving ultra-high sensitivities. The sensor chip was fabricated using a silicon nitride platform and characterized wit...

We explore the interaction between local-global information processing in visual perception, leveraging a visual phenomenon known as crowding, whereby the perception of a target stimulus is impaired by the presence of nearby flankers. The majority of established models explain the crowding effect in terms of local interactions. However, recent experimental results indicate that a classical crow...

Perceptual learning is the ability to improve perception through practice. Perceptual learning is usually specific for the task and features learned. For example, improvements in performance for a certain stimulus do not transfer if the stimulus is rotated by 90 degrees or is presented at a different location. These findings are usually taken as evidence that orientation-specific, retinotopic e...

Fourteen- and 24-week-old infants were tested for sensitivity to small position differences under two conditions: (a) the Vernier stimulus was flashed on and off at 1.2 or 4.8 Hz (flash condition); and (b) the Vernier breaks were presented in apparent motion at 1.2 or 4.8 Hz (motion condition). The latter stimulus also contained local flicker cues. Each infant was tested at one temporal frequen...

If a vernier stimulus precedes a grating for a very short time, the vernier either remains invisible, but may bequeath some of its properties to the grating (feature inheritance), or might shine through keeping its features - depending on the number of grating elements [Herzog, M. H. & Koch, C., 2001. Seeing properties of an invisible element: feature inheritance and shine-through. Proceedings ...

It is well known that attention increases the discriminability of some types of spatial information. To ascertain more specifically which types of spatial information benefit from attention, we have measured spatial vision thresholds both in the presence and in the near absence of attention. To obtain near absence of attention, we induce subjects to focus attention elsewhere in the display by m...

The scaffolding core in bacteriophages is a temporary structure that plays a major role in determining the shape of the protein shell that encapsulates the viral DNA. In the currently accepted structure for the scaffolding core in bacteriophage T4, there is a symmetry mismatch between the protein shell, which has fivefold symmetry, and the scaffolding core, which is believed to consist of six h...

In this work, we demonstrate broad electrical tuning of quantum cascade lasers at 9.25 lm, 8.5 lm, and 4.4 lm in continuous wave operation using Vernier-effect distributed Bragg reflectors based on superstructure gratings. Integrated micro-heaters allow to switch from one Vernier channel to the other, while predictable and mode-hop free tuning can be obtained in each channel modulating the lase...