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Department of Psychology

Joseph S. Lappin

Research Professor of Psychology
Professor Emeritus

Lappin conducts research on human visual perception: How does knowledge of the surrounding world, solid objects and meaningful events in 3D spaces, derive from optical patterns on the eyes?  Current R&D: Quantifying the channel capacity of conscious visual recognition of salient information. 

Lab Website

Representative Publications

Selected papers:

  • Lappin, J.S., Schall, J.D., Liu, W., & Bell, H.H. (submitted).  An information rate theory of response time variability and temporal processes. (A review paper with new theory, methodology, and experimental evidence for measuring temporal processes in bits/s.)
  • Lappin, J.S. & Bell (2023).  The coherent organization of dynamic visual images.  Frontiers in Computer Science, 5:1124230.  (doi: 10.3389/fcomp.2023.1124230)
  • Lappin, J.S., Seiffert, A.E., & Bell, H.H. (2020).  A limiting capacity of visual perception:  Spreading attention divides the rates of perceptual processes.  Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 82, 2652-2672.  (DOI: 10.3758/s13414-020-01973-9).  
  • Tadin, D., Park, W.J., Dieter, K.C., Melnick, M.D., Lappin, J.S., & Blake, R. (2019).  Spatial suppression promotes rapid figure-ground segmentation of moving objects.  Nature Communications, 10, Article 2732. (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10653-8)
  • Tadin, D., Lappin, J.S., Gilroy, L.A., & Blake, R. (2003). Perceptual consequences of centre-surround antagonism in visual motion processing. Nature, 424, 312-315
  • Lappin, J.S. & Craft, W.D. (2000).  Foundations of spatial vision: From retinal images to perceived shapes.  Psychological Review, 107 (1), 6-38.

Full list through Google Scholar