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Department of Psychology

Joseph S. Lappin

Research Professor of Psychology
Emeritus Professor

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., Morse, D.L., & Seiffert, A.E. (2016).  The channel capacity of visual awareness divided among multiple moving objects.  Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 78, 2469-2493. (DOI:10.3758/s13414-016-1162-z)  
  •  Lappin, J.S. & Bell, H.H. (2021). Form and function in information for visual perception.  i-Perception, 12 (6), 1-22. (DOI: 10.1177/20416695211053352)
  • Lappin, J.S. & Bell, H.H. (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