Dr. Piers Douglas Lionel Howe
MPhys, PhD
Lecturer
Contact details:
| email:pdhowe@unimelb.edu.au | |
| telephone: +61 3 8344 6287 |
In everyday life we are constantly inundated with far more information than we can process. To avoid being overwhelmed, we ignore most of it and attended to only a small fraction. Attention acts as a gatekeeper determining what information is further processed. But how does visual attention work? What are its limitations? Can one really attend to multiple objects simultaneously? Suppose the objects move – does this affect our ability to attend to them? What is the spatial resolution of visual attention?
These are the sorts of questions that I am primarily focused on. I address them using a variety of techniques including computational modelling, fMRI and behavioural experiments. I have a secondary interest in a wide range of topics in visual perception including: afterimages, lightness, motion perception and depth perception. For further details of my work, please click on the pdf’s below.
Research Interests:
- Visual Attention
- Multiple Object Tracking
- Motion Perception
- Depth Perception
- Lightness
- Afterimages
Professional Associations, Memberships & Awards:
- Academic Editor PLoS ONE
- Review Editor Frontiers in Perception Science
- Member of the Association for Psychological Science (USA)
- Member of the Cognitive Science Society
- Member of the Vision Sciences Society
Grants and Fellowships:
| 2012 | $42,000 | NHMRC/ARC Melbourne Research Grant Support Scheme, University of Melbourne |
| 2012 | $19,973 | Research Collaboration Grant, University of Melbourne (co-CI with Dr. Daniel Little). |
| 2011 | $9,250 | Equipment Grant, Dept. of Psychology (co-CI with Dr. Daniel Little) |
| 2011 | $5,000 | Research Assistance Grant, Dept. Psychology, University of Melbourne (co-CI with Dr. Daniel Little) |
| 2011 | $5,000 | Unilever (Australia) Pilot Grant (co-CI with Dr. Daniel Little). |
| 2011 | $39,994 | Early Career Research Grant, Melbourne University |
| 2010 | $8,324 | Equipment Grant, Dept. Psychology, University of Melbourne. |
| 2005-2008 | US$300,000 | ARO 46961-LS, as co-PI. Principle PI: Prof. Margaret Livingstone. |
| 2004-2006 | US$129,000 | Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Research Fellowship |
| 1999-2003 | US$66,000 | Presidential University Graduate Fellowship, Boston University |
Selected Publications:
Cohen MA, Pinto Y, Howe PDL, Horowitz TS (2011). The what-where trade-off in multiple-identity tracking. Attention, Perception and Psychophysics, 73(5), 1422-1434. [PDF]
Howe PDL, Drew T, Pinot Y, Horowitz TS (2011). Remapping attention in multiple object tracking. Vision Research, 51(5), 489-495. 2011. [PDF]
Bowers AR, Anastasio RJ, Howe PD, O’Connor MG, Hollis AM, Kapust LR, Bronstad PM, Horowitz TS. (2011) Dynamic attention as a predictor of driving performance in clinical populations: preliminary results. Proceedings of the 6th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design. Lake Tahoe, CA. 307-313. [PDF]
Howe PDL, Pinto Y, Horowitz TS (2010). The coordinate systems used in visual tracking. Vision Research, 50, 2375-2380. PDF
Evans KK, Horowitz TS, Howe PD, Pedersini R, Kuzmova Y, Reijnen E, Pinto Y, Wolfe JM. (2010). Visual Attention. In Nadel L (Ed) Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science John Wiley & Sons Ltd.PDF
Howe PD, Cohen MA, Pinto Y, Horowitz TS. (2010). Distinguishing between parallel and serial accounts of multiple object tracking. Journal of Vision, 10(8).PDFPinto Y, Howe PD, Cohen MA, Horowitz TS. (2010). The more often you see an object, the easier it becomes to track it. Journal of Vision, 10(10).PDF
Howe PD (2009). Attention, Awareness and Neglect. Encyclopedia for Consciousness. Elsevier, UK.PDF
Howe PD, Evans KK, Pedersini R, Horowitz TS, Wolfe JM., Cohen M (2009). Attention: Selective Attention and Consciousness. Encyclopedia for Consciousness. Elsevier, UK. PDF
Howe PD, Livingstone MS, Morocz I, Horowitz TS. (2009). An fMRI investigation into multiple object tracking. Journal of Vision, 9(4).PDF
Hubel, DH, Howe PD, Duffy, AM, Hernandez, A (2009). Scotopic foveal afterimages. Perception, 38(2), 313-316.PDF
Howe PD, Horowitz TS, Wolfe JM (2008). Transient signals per se do not disrupt the flash-lag effect. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31(2), 206. PDF
Howe PD, Sagreiya H, Curtis DL, Zheng CC, Livingstone MS. (2008). The double-anchoring theory of lightness perception: A comment on Bressan (2006). Psychological Review, 114(4), 1105-1110. PDF
Howe PD & Livingstone MS. (2007). The Use of the Cancellation Technique to Quantify the Hermann Grid Illusion. PLoS ONE, 2(2): e265.PDF
Howe PD, Thompson PG, Anstis SM, Sagreiya H, Livingstone MS. (2006). Explaining the Footsteps, Bellydancer, Wenceslas and Kickback Illusions. Journal of Vision, 6, 12(5).PDF
Howe PD & Livingstone MS (2006). End-stopping and the stereo aperture problem in macaque V1. Cerebral Cortex, 16(9), 1332-1337.PDF
Howe PD (2006). Testing the coplanar ratio hypothesis of lightness perception. Perception, 35(3), 291-301.PDF
Howe PD (2005). White’s effect: removing the junctions but preserving the strength of the illusion. Perception, 34(5), 557-564.PDF
Grossberg S & Howe PD (2003, equal contributions). A laminar cortical model of stereopsis and three-dimensional surface perception. Vision Research, 43, 801-829.PDF
Howe PD & Watanabe T (2003). Measuring the depth induced by an opposite-luminance (but not anti-correlated) stereogram. Perception, 32(4), 415-21.PDF
Howe PD (2001). A comment on the Anderson (1997), the Todorovic (1997), and the Ross and Pessoa (2000) explanations of White's effect. Perception, 30(8), 1023-1026. PDF
Lab Members:
Mark Lapierre (PhD Student)