Barbara Blakeslee, Ph.D.
Research Professor
Department of Psychology
North Dakota State University
P.O. Box 5075
Fargo, ND 58105-5075
Office: 119M Minard Hall
Phone: (701) 231-9719
Fax: (701) 231-8426
E-Mail: barbara.blakeslee@ndsu.edu
Human Visual Perception Lab
Education:| 1983-1985 | Postdoctoral Fellow, RSBS, Neurobiology, Australian National University |
| 1983 | Ph.D, Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara |
| 1976 | B.A, Psychology, University of California, Berkeley |
| 2003-Present | Research Professor, NDSU Psychology |
| 2004-2011 | Internal Advisor, Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, NDSU |
| 2001-2003 | Associate Research Professor, NDSU Psychology |
| 1996-2001 | Assistant Professor, NDSU Psychology |
| 1991-1996 | Adjunct Professor, NDSU Psychology |
| 1985-1990 | Research Scientist, Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin |
Our vision laboratory is currently conducting a variety of psychophysical experiments aimed at understanding the neural mechanisms underlying human brightness and lightness perception. Our approach involves using human psychophysical techniques, such as brightness matching, cancellation and magnitude estimation to quantitatively investigate brightness and lightness illusions. The study of these illusions reveals the underlying spatial and temporal processing mechanisms responsible for human brightness and lightness perception.
Concurrently, we are involved in the development and testing of several computational models of brightness perception. The ODOG model (Blakeslee & McCourt, 1999), based on a set of oriented difference of Gaussian filters, has been able to parsimoniously explain a large number of induced brightness effects that in the past have been attributed to a wide variety of different mechanisms. We are currently testing a revised version of this model (the Simple-Balanced Gabor model) that is intended to increase the explanatory power of the ODOG model. This new model employs balanced Gabor filters and local (as opposed to global) contrast gain control.
Active
Mark E. McCourt (PI/PD), Michael Robinson (Co-I), Mark Nawrot (Co-I), Barbara Blakeslee (Co-I) and Benjamin Balas (Co-I), National Center for Research Resources, P20 RR020151, "COBRE Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience", 8/25/10-8/24/15, $10,736,313.
Mark E. McCourt (PI/PD) and Barbara Blakeslee (Co-I), "Assessing Age-Related Changes in Inhibitory Visual Processing", Administrative Supplement (Advance Translational Research) to National Center for Research Resources, P20 RR020151, "COBRE Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience", 9/17/10-9/16/12, $203,332.
Mark E. McCourt (PI/PD) and Barbara Blakeslee (Co-I), "Applications of High-Density EEG to Visual Neuroscience: Brightness and Lightness Perception", Administrative Supplement (Research Workforce Development and Dissemination) to National Center for Research Resources, P20 RR020151, "COBRE Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience", 9/24/10-9/23/12, $238,559.
Completed
Mark E. McCourt (PI/PD) and Barbara Blakeslee (Co-I), "Assessing Age-Related Changes in Inhibitory Visual Processing", Administrative Supplement (Advance Translational Research) to National Center for Research Resources, P20 RR020151, "COBRE Center for Visual Neuroscience", 9/25/09-9/24/10, $203,332.
Barbara Blakeslee (PI/PD) and Mark McCourt (Co-I), National Eye Institute (EY014015) "Spatial and Temporal Interactions in Brightness Perception", 3/1/03-2/28/08, $698,850.
Barbara Blakeslee (PI/PD), National Science Foundation (IBN-0212789) "Studies of Brightness, Brightness Contrast and Lightness: Methods and Modeling", 8/15/2002-7/31/2005, $150,501.
Barbara Blakeslee (PI/PD), National Science Foundation (IBN-9816690) "Lateral Interactions in Brightness Perception: Psychophysics and Modeling" (PI/PD), 6/1/99-5/30/04, $132,199.
Barbara Blakeslee (PI/PD) National Science Foundation (IBN-9514201) "Lateral Interactions in Brightness and Color Perception", 6/18/96-3/31/98, 119,998.
Barbara Blakeslee (PI/PD) National Science Foundation Research Planning Grant (IBN-9306776, "Lateral Interactions in Brightness, Contrast and Color Perception". 9/1/93-2/28/95, $18,000.
Mark McCourt (PI/PD) and Barbara Blakeslee (Co-I) 1994 -1995 Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-94-1-0445) "Threshold and Suprathreshold Lateral Interactions in Brightness, Contrast and Stereoscopic Depth Perception", 9/1/94-2/29/96, $94,000.
Mark McCourt (PI/PD) and Barbara Blakeslee (Co-I) National Eye Institute (EY10133 01) "Analysis of Grating Induction" 5/1/93-5/14/97, $115,250.
Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M.E. (2012) When is spatial filtering enough? Investigation of brightness and lightness perception in stimuli containing a visible illumination component. Vision Research, 60, 40-50.
Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M.E. (2011). Spatiotemporal analysis brightness induction. Vision Research, 51, 1872-1879. PMC3152653
McCourt, M.E. & Blakeslee, B. (2009). Brightening prospects for understanding the neural coding of perceived luminance. Japanese Journal of Psychonomic Science, 28, 95-106.
Cope, D., Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M.E. (2009). Simple cell response properties imply receptive field structure: Balanced Gabor and/or bandlimited field functions. J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis, 26(9):2067-2092. PMC3128805
Cope, D., Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M.E. (2009). Simple cell response properties imply receptive field structure: Balanced Gabor and/or bandlimited field functions. Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research, 18(7).
Blakeslee, B., Reetz, D. & McCourt, M.E. (2009). Spatial filtering versus anchoring accounts of brightness/lightness in staircase and simultaneous brightness/lightness contrast stimuli. Journal of Vision, 9(3):22, 1-17, http://journalofvision.org/9/3/22/, doi:10.1167/ 9.3.22. PMC3136047
Blakeslee, B., Reetz, D. & McCourt, M. E. (2008) Coming to terms with lightness and brightness: Effects of stimulus configuration and instructions on brightness and lightness judgments. Journal of Vision, 8(11):3, 1-14, http://journalofvision.org/8/11/3/, doi:10.1167/8.11.3. PMC in progress
Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M.E. (2008). Nearly instantaneous brightness induction. Journal of Vision, 8(2):15, 1-8, http://journalofvision.org/8/2/15/, doi:10.1167/8.2.15. PMC in progress
Blakeslee B. & McCourt M.E. (2005) A multiscale filtering explanation of gradient and remote brightness induction effects: A reply to Logvinenko (2003). Perception, 34, 793-802. PMID16124266
Blakeslee B., Pasieka, W. & McCourt M.E. (2005) Oriented multiscale spatial filtering and contrast normalization: a parsimonious model of brightness induction in a continuum of stimuli including White, Howe and simultaneous brightness contrast. Vision Research, 45, 607-615. PMID15621178
Blakeslee B. & McCourt M.E. (2004) A unified theory of brightness contrast and assimilation incorporating oriented multiscale spatial filtering and contrast normalization. Vision Research, 44, 2483-2503. PMID15358084
Blakeslee B. & McCourt M.E. (2003) A multiscale spatial filtering account of brightness phenomena. In Harris, L. & Jenkin, M. (Eds.), Levels of Perception, Springer:New York.
Blakeslee B. & McCourt M.E. (2003) Lightness, brightness and brightness contrast: Commentaries on Todorovic, Kingdom and Gilchrist. In Harris, L. & Jenkin, M. (Eds.), Levels of Perception, Springer:New York.
Blakeslee B. & McCourt M.E. (2001) A multiscale spatial filtering account of the Wertheimer-Benary effect and the corrugated mondrian. Vision Research, 41, 2487-2502. PMID11483179
Blakeslee B. & McCourt M.E. (1999) A multiscale spatial filtering account of the White effect, simultaneous brightness contrast and grating induction. Vision Research, 39, 4361-4377. PMID10789430
Blakeslee B. & McCourt M.E. (1997) Similar mechanisms underlie simultaneous brightness contrast and grating induction. Vision Research, 37, 2849-2869,1997. PMID9415365
Kingdom F.A.A. Blakeslee B. & McCourt M. (1997) Brightness with and without perceived transparency: When does it make a difference? Perception, 26, 493-506. PMID9404495
Kingdom F.A.A. McCourt M.E. & Blakeslee B. (1997) In defense of lateral inhibition as the underlying cause of simultaneous brightness contrast. A reply to Spehar, Gilchrist & Arend. Vision Research, 37, 1039-1044. PMID9196722
McCourt M.E. & Blakeslee B. (1994) A contrast matching analysis of grating induction and suprathreshold contrast perception. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 11, 14-24. PMID8106910
McCourt M.E. & Blakeslee B. (1993) The effect of edge blur on grating induction magnitude. Vision Research, 33, 2499-2507. PMID8249330
Blakeslee B. Jacobs G.H. & Neitz J. (1988) Spectral mechanisms in the tree squirrel retina. Journal of Comparative Physiology, A, 162, 773 780.
Maddess T. McCourt M.E. Blakeslee B. & Cunningham T. (1988) Factors governing the adaptation of cells in area 17 of the cat visual cortex. Biological Cybernetics, 59, 229 236. PMID3196767
Howard J. Blakeslee B. & Laughlin S.B. (1987) The intracellular pupil mechanism and photoreceptor signal to noise ratios in the fly (Lucilia cuprina). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 231, 415 435.
Laughlin S.B. Howard J. & Blakeslee B. (1987) Synaptic limitations to contrast coding in the retina of the blowfly (Calliphora). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 231, 437 467.
Blakeslee B. & Jacobs G.H. (1987) Increment thresholds of the three spectral mechanisms in the retina of the California ground squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi). Experimental Brain Research, 66, 21 28.
Blakeslee B. & Jacobs G.H. (1985) Color vision in the ring tailed lemur (Lemur catta). Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 26, 154 166.
Blakeslee B. Jacobs H.G. & McCourt M.E. (1985) Anisotropy in the preferred directions and visual field locations of directionally selective optic nerve fibers in the gray squirrel. Vision Research, 25, 615 618. PMID4060616
Jacobs G.H. & Blakeslee B. (1984) Individual variations in color vision among squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) of different geographical origins. Journal of Comparative Psychology 98, 4, 347 357.
Blakeslee B. &Jacobs G.H. (1982) Color vision in the spider monkey (Ateles). Folia Primatologica, 38, 86 98.
Jacobs G.H. Birch D. & Blakeslee B. (1982) Visual acuity and spatial contrast sensitivity in tree squirrels. Behavioral Processes, 1, 367 375.
Jacobs G.H. Blakeslee B. & Tootell R.B.H. (1981) Color discrimination tests on fibers in the ground squirrel optic nerve. Journal of Neurophysiology, 45, 903 914.
Jacobs G.H. Blakeslee B. McCourt M.E. & Tootell R.B.H. (1980) Visual sensitivity of ground squirrels to spatial and temporal luminance modulations. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 146, 291 299.
Jacobs G.H. Tootell R.B.H. & Blakeslee B. (1979) Visual capacities of the owl monkey. (Aotus trivirgatus): Temporal contrast sensitivity. Folia Primatologica, 32, 193 199.
Published Abstracts/Presentations at Professional Meetings:
Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M.E. (2011). A low-level multiscale filtering account of stimuli often cited as evidence for higher-level mechanisms in brightness perception. Journal of Vision, 11(11): 363; doi:10.1167/11.11.363.
Leone, L., Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M.E. (2011). Effects of Normal Aging on Suprathreshold Contrast Perception. Journal of Vision, 11(11): 463; doi:10.1167/ 11.11.463.
McCourt, M.E. & Blakeslee, B. (2010). Filling-in versus multiscale filtering explanations of brightness induction: Measuring the speed and magnitude of induction as a function of distance from the inducing/test field edge. 3rd Biennial National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence, Bethesda, MD, 6/10.
Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M.E. (2010). Filling-in versus multiscale filtering : Measuring the speed and magnitude of brightness induction as a function of distance from an inducing edge. Journal of Vision, 10(7), 423 ; doi :10.1167/10.7.423.
McCourt, M.E., Blakeslee, B. & Cope, D. (2009). Simple cell response properties imply receptive field structure: Balanced Gabor and/or bandlimited field functions [Invited Presentation]. Geoff Henry International Festschrift, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T., Australia, 11/09.
McCourt, M.E. & Blakeslee, B. (2008). Brightening prospects for understanding the neural coding of perceived luminance [Invited Presentation]. Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan, 12/6/08.
McCourt, M.E. & Blakeslee, B. (2008). Brightening prospects for understanding the neural coding of perceived luminance [Keynote Presentation]. 27th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Psychonomic Society, Sendai, Japan, 12/6/08.
Blakeslee, B., Reetz, D. & McCourt, M. (2008). Spatial filtering versus anchoring accounts of brightness in staircase and simultaneous brightness contrast stimuli. Journal of Vision, 8(6), 285a, doi:10.1167/8.6.285.
Cope, D., Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M. (2008). Structural theorems for simple cell receptive fields. Journal of Vision, 8(6), 802a, doi:10.1167/8.6.802.
McCourt, M. & Blakeslee, B. (2008). Coming to terms with lightness and brightness: effects of stimulus configuration and instructions on brightness and lightness judgments. Journal of Vision, 8(6), 291a, doi:10.1167/8.6.291.
McCourt, M. E. and Blakeslee, B. (2006) Spatiotemporal dependencies of brightness induction. Journal of Vision, 6(6), 705a, http://journalofvision.org/6/6/705/, doi:10.1167/6.6.705.
McCourt, M.E. & Blakeslee, B. (2005) Temporal properties of brightness induction [Abstract] Journal of Vision, 5(8), 242a, http://journalofvision.org/5/8/242/, doi:10.1167/5.8.242.
Blakeslee, B., Pasieka, W. & McCourt, M.E. (2004) Oriented multiscale spatial filtering and contrast normalization accounts for Howe's variation of White's effect. Journal of Vision, 4(8), 350a, http://journalofvision.org/4/8/350/, doi:10.1167/3.9.422.
McCourt, M.E., Blakeslee, B. & Pasieka, W. (2004) Temporal properties of brightness induction. Perception (Suppl.), 33, 15.
Blakeslee, B. and McCourt, M.E. (2003) The effect of spatial frequency on the White, the shifted White and checkerboard illusions: Data and modeling. Journal of Vision, 3(9), 422a, http://journalofvision.org/3/9/422/, doi:10.1167/3.9.422.
McCourt, M.E. and Blakeslee, B. (2002) Spatial frequency influences on brightness in White's effect and the checkerboard illusion. Journal of Vision, 2(10), 105a, http://journalofvision.org/2/10/105/,doi:10.1167/2.10.105.
McCourt, M.E. & Blakeslee, B. (2001) The perception of brightness, lightness and illumination: Lessons from art and science. The Art of Seeing and the Seeing of Art. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
McCourt, M.E. & Blakeslee, B. (2001) A multiscale spatial filtering account of complex brightness phenomena. The York Conference on Levels of Perception, 6/01.
Blakeslee B. & McCourt M.E. (2000) A multiscale spatial filtering account of the Wertheimer-Benary effect and the corrugated mondrian. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Suppl.), 41, S237.
McCourt, M.E. and Blakeslee, B. (2000) A multiscale spatial filtering account of the White effect, simultaneous brightness contrast and grating induction. Vision 2000, Archidosso, Tuscany, Italy, 7/00, (Invited presentation).
Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M.E. (1999) Render unto Hering: A nonlinear multiscale filtering account of brightness phenomena. Invited presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Optical Society of America (9/27/99), Santa Clara, CA.
Blakeslee B. & McCourt M.E. (1999) A multiscale spatial filtering account of the White effect, SBC and GI. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Suppl.), 40, S748.
Blakeslee B. & McCourt M.E. (1998) A multiscale spatial filtering account of the White effect. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Suppl.), 39, S159.
Maddess, T., Ibbotson, M.R., Dubious, R.A., Blakeslee, B. & McCourt, M.E. (1998) Adaptive processing of image motion by various brains. Workshop on Brain Function, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T., Australia.
Blakeslee B & McCourt M.E. (1997) A multiscale filtering account of grating induction and simultaneous brightness contrast. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Suppl.), 38, S896.
McCourt M.E. Blakeslee B. Kingdom F.A.A. & Hagel R. (1997) Brightness with and without perceived transparency. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Suppl.), 38, S897.
Blakeslee B & McCourt M.E. (1996) Does a single mechanism underlie simultaneous brightness contrast and grating induction? Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Suppl.), 37, S1066.
McCourt, M.E., Blakeslee, B. & Kingdom, F.A.A. (1996) The effect of perceived transparency on brightness judgments. OSA Annual Meeting Technical Digest. (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC, 1996).
McCourt M.E. Martinez-Uriegas E. & Blakeslee B. (1995) Temporal properties of grating induction. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Suppl.), 36, S469.
McCourt M.E. & Blakeslee B. (1993) A contrast matching analysis of grating induction and suprathreshold contrast perception. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Suppl.), 34, 586.
McCourt M.E. & Blakeslee B. (1992) The effect of edge blur on grating induction magnitude. OSA Annual Meeting Technical Digest (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC, 1992), 23, 119.
McCourt M.E. & Blakeslee B. (1991) Growth of contrast in grating induction. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Suppl.), 32.
McCourt M.E. & Blakeslee B. (1989) Grating induction and photoreceptor function. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Suppl.), 29.
Laughlin S.B. Blakeslee B. & Howard J. (1984) Synaptic noise as a limitation to visual coding in the blowfly retina. Proceedings of the Australian Physiological and Pharmacological Society, Adelaide, Australia.
Blakeslee B. & Jacobs G.H. (1984) Color vision in the ring tailed lemur (Lemur catta). Proceedings of the Australian Physiological and Pharmacological Society, Melbourne, Australia.
Blakeslee B. Howard J. & Laughlin S.B. (1984) The role of the fly pupil mechanism in regulating the signal to noise ratio of light adapted photoreceptors. Neuroscience Letters (Suppl.), 15, S20.
Howard J. Laughlin S.B. & Blakeslee B. (1984) Stimulus modulation simplifies shot noise analysis for photoreceptors. Neuroscience Letters (Suppl.), 15, S39.
Blakeslee B. & Jacobs G.H. (1982) Increment threshold functions of spectral mechanisms in the ground squirrel retina. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, (Suppl.), 22, 279.
Jacobs G.H. & Blakeslee B. (1980) Within species variations in color vision among New World monkeys. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, (Suppl.), 20, 136.