Abstract

The theory of signal detectability (TSD) predicts that uncertainty of the spatial location of a luminance-increment stimulus should influence the detectability of the stimulus. If d′ is the detectability, E is the increment luminance, N² is the variance of the noise that obscures the signal, and M is the number of equally likely non-overlapping stimuli, TSD predicts (d′)² = log_e{1–1/M + 1/M exp(E²/N²)}. TSD also predicts that the slope of the ROC curve on probability paper should decrease in the presence of stimulus-position uncertainty. Both predictions were confirmed in psychophysical tests of human observers for foveally viewed stimuli.

© 1974 Optical Society of America

Detectability of a luminance increment*

Theodore E. Cohn, Larry N. Thibos, and Robert N. Kleinstein
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 64(10) 1321-1327 (1974)

Detection of a luminance increment: effect of temporal uncertainty

David J. Lasley and Theodore Cohn
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 71(7) 845-850 (1981)

Effect of large spatial uncertainty on foveal luminance increment detectability

Theodore E. Cohn and James C. Wardlaw
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 2(6) 820-825 (1985)

Detectability of a luminance increment: Effect of superimposed random luminance fluctuation*

Theodore E. Cohn
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 66(12) 1426_1-1428 (1976)

Visual Detection and Discrimination of Luminance Increments*

Jacob Nachmias and Elizabeth C. Kocher
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 60(3) 382-389 (1970)