Descriptive axioms for common factor theory,image theory and component theory

Through an extension of work by Guttman, common factor theory, image theory, and component theory are derived from distinct minimum subsets of assumptions chosen out of a set of five possible assumptions. It is thence shown that the problem of indeterminacy of factor scores in the common factor model is precisely reflected in the problem of the non-orthogonality of anti-images. Indeed, image scores are determinate for the same reason that the usual estimates of factor scores are determinate, and image scores cannot be used as though they were factor scores for the same reason that factor score estimates cannot be used as though they were factor scores.     

Argumentation, the Visual, and the Possibility of Refutation: An Exploration

Taking the possibility of visual argumentation seriously, this essay explores how refutation might proceed. We posit three ways in which images can refute and be refuted in a mixed-media environment: (1) dissection, in which an image is broken down discursively; (2) substitution, in which one image is replaced within a larger visual frame by a different image; and (3) transformation, in which an image is recontextualized in a new visual frame. These strategies are illustrated in an analysis of three American documentary films on abortion.     

InterFace: A software package for face image warping,averaging, and principal components analysis

We describe InterFace, a software package for research in face recognition. The package supports image warping, reshaping, averaging of multiple face images, and morphing between faces. It also supports principal components analysis (PCA) of face images, along with tools for exploring the “face space” produced by PCA. The package uses a simple graphical user interface, allowing users to perform these sophisticated image manipulations without any need for programming knowledge. The program is available for download in the form of an app, which requires that users also have access to the (freely available) MATLAB Runtime environment.     

A perceptually based comparison of image similarity metrics

The assessment of how well one image matches another forms a critical component both of models of human visual processing and of many image analysis systems. Two of the most commonly used norms for quantifying image similarity are L1 and L2, which are specific instances of the Minkowski metric. However, there is often not a principled reason for selecting one norm over the other. One way to address this problem is by examining whether one metric, better than the other, captures the perceptual notion of image similarity. This can be used to derive inferences regarding similarity criteria the human visual system uses, as well as to evaluate and design metrics for use in image-analysis applications. With this goal, we examined perceptual preferences for images retrieved on the basis of the L1 versus the L2 norm. These images were either small fragments without recognizable content, or larger patterns with recognizable content created by vector quantization. In both conditions the participants showed a small but consistent preference for images matched with the L1 metric. These results suggest that, in the domain of natural images of the kind we have used, the L1 metric may better capture human notions of image similarity.     

Stability of memory for colour in context.

Memory for colours presented in isolation was compared with that for colours presented as part of a clip-art image or as part of a non-meaningful, Mondrian-like image. The area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic for deciding that two colours, presented at different delay intervals, were the same or different provided an index of memory for colour. The provision of a context reduced the decay of memory, regardless of whether the context was meaningful (clip-art images) or non-meaningful (Mondrian-like images). The result was seen as a generalisation of the auditory phenomenon of profile analysis, in which memory for the amplitude of a single component of a complex sound is more stable than that for the component in isolation.     

Visual persistence of spatially filtered images

Periodic stimuli such as sine-wave gratings and checkerboard patterns have been used in many studies of visual perception. It is well known that with such stimuli, visual persistence increases as spatial frequency increases and as contrast decreases. It is not clear, however, that similar relationships obtain for aperiodic stimuli such as natural images. Digitized images of objects (a face and a vase) were submitted to two-dimensional Fourier analysis. Four pairs of spatial frequency band-limited images were created for each image. Each pair consisted of a normal (NP) and a scrambled (SP) phase version, with the magnitude spectrum and space-averaged luminance the same within each pair. Filter bandwidths were one octave wide. Threshold persistence was measured for each spatially filtered image. Visual persistence for SP images increased significantly as spatial frequency increased, whereas no significant differences were found for NP images. This suggests that the temporal processing of complex, aperiodic visual images is influenced by the spatial frequency and contrast of local features within the image and cannot be predicted by space-averaged estimates of contrast and spatial frequency.     

Facial Wipes don't Wash: Facial Image Comparison by Video Superimposition Reduces the Accuracy of Face Matching Decisions

In cases of disputed CCTV identification, expert testimony based on the results of analysis by facial image comparison may be presented to the Jury. However, many of the techniques lack empirical data to support their use. Using a within‐participants design, we compared the accuracy of face‐matching decisions when images were presented using a ‘facial wipe’ technique (where one image is superimposed on another and the display gradually ‘wipes’ between the two) with decisions based on static images. Experiment 1 used high‐quality image pairs; Experiment 2 used disguised target images; and Experiment 3 used degraded target images. Across all three experiments, rather than optimising performance, facial wipes reduced accuracy relative to static presentations. Further, there is evidence that video wipes increase false positives and therefore may increase the likelihood that images of two different people will be incorrectly judged to show the same individual.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What’s in a name? Lexical knowledge drives infants’ visual preferences in the absence of referential input

Seventeen-month-old infants were presented with pairs of images, in silence or with the non-directive auditory stimulus ‘look!’. The images had been chosen so that one image depicted an item whose name was known to the infant, and the other image depicted an image whose name was not known to the infant. Infants looked longer at images for which they had names than at images for which they did not have names, despite the absence of any referential input. The experiment controlled for the familiarity of the objects depicted: in each trial, image pairs presented to infants had previously been judged by caregivers to be of roughly equal familiarity. From a theoretical perspective, the results indicate that objects with names are of intrinsic interest to the infant. The possible causal direction for this linkage is discussed and it is concluded that the results are consistent with Whorfian linguistic determinism, although other construals are possible. From a methodological perspective, the results have implications for the use of preferential looking as an index of early word comprehension.     

What is perceived when two images are combined?

When two images are combined three perceptual outcomes are possible. One, they can be perceived as they are--separate and independent images. Two, they can become perceptually fused into a new image. Three, one image may dominate, or mask, the other. These possibilities are demonstrated with a variety of images and it is proposed that it is their spatial correlation rather than their spatial frequency similarities or differences which is critical in determining the particular outcome.     

Image theory for the structure of quantitative variates

A universe of infinitely many quantitative variables is considered, from which a sample ofn variables is arbitrarily selected. Only linear least-squares regressions are considered, based on an infinitely large population of individuals or respondents. In the sample of variables, the predicted value of a variablex from the remainingn – 1 variables is called the partial image ofx, and the error of prediction is called the partial anti-image ofx. The predicted value ofx from the entire universe, or the limit of its partial images asn , is called the total image ofx, and the corresponding error is called the total anti-image. Images and anti-images can be used to explain why any two variablesx _j andx _k are correlated with each other, or to reveal the structure of the intercorrelations of the sample and of the universe. It is demonstrated that image theory is related to common-factor theory but has greater generality than common-factor theory, being able to deal with structures other than those describable in a Spearman-Thurstone factor space. A universal computing procedure is suggested, based upon the inverse of the correlation matrix.This paper introduces one of three new structural theories, each of which generalizes common-factor analysis in a different direction.Nodular theory extends common-factor analysis to qualitative data and to data with curvilinear regressions (6).Order-factor theory introduces the notions oforder among the observed variables and ofseparable factors (7). The presentimage theory is relevant also to the other two.Attention may be called to empirical results published since this paper was written: Louis Guttman, Two new approaches to factor analysis, Annual Technical Report on contract Nonr—731(00). The present research was aided by an uncommitted grant-in-aid from the Ford Foundation.     

Promise and Ontological Ambiguity in the In vitro Meat Imagescape: From Laboratory Myotubes to the Cultured Burger

In vitro meat (IVM), also known as cultured meat, involves growing cells into muscle tissue to be eaten as food. The technology had its most high-profile moment in 2013 when a cultured burger was cooked and tasted in a press conference. Images of the burger featured in the international media and were circulated across the Internet. These images—literally marks on a two-dimensional surface—do important work in establishing what IVM is and what it can do. A combination of visual semiotics and narrative analysis shows that images of IVM afford readings of their story that are co-created by the viewer. Before the cultured burger, during 2011, images of IVM fell into four distinct categories: cell images, tissue images, flowcharts, and meat in a dish images. The narrative infrastructure of each image type affords different interpretations of what IVM can accomplish and what it is. The 2013 cultured burger images both draw upon and depart from these image types in an attempt to present IVM as a normal food stuff, and as ‘matter in place’ when placed on the plate. The analysis of individual images and the collection of images about a certain object or subject—known as the imagescape—is a productive approach to understanding the ontology and promise of IVM and is applicable to other areas of social life.     

How do rhesus monkeys (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Macaca mulatta</Emphasis>) scan faces in a visual paired comparison task?

When novel and familiar faces are viewed simultaneously, humans and monkeys show a preference for looking at the novel face. The facial features attended to in familiar and novel faces, were determined by analyzing the visual exploration patterns, or scanpaths, of four monkeys performing a visual paired comparison task. In this task, the viewer was first familiarized with an image and then it was presented simultaneously with a novel and the familiar image. A looking preference for the novel image indicated that the viewer recognized the familiar image and hence differentiates between the familiar and the novel images. Scanpaths and relative looking preference were compared for four types of images: (1) familiar and novel objects, (2) familiar and novel monkey faces with neutral expressions, (3) familiar and novel inverted monkey faces, and (4) faces from the same monkey with different facial expressions. Looking time was significantly longer for the novel face, whether it was neutral, expressing an emotion, or inverted. Monkeys did not show a preference, or an aversion, for looking at aggressive or affiliative facial expressions. The analysis of scanpaths indicated that the eyes were the most explored facial feature in all faces. When faces expressed emotions such as a fear grimace, then monkeys scanned features of the face, which contributed to the uniqueness of the expression. Inverted facial images were scanned similarly to upright images. Precise measurement of eye movements during the visual paired comparison task, allowed a novel and more quantitative assessment of the perceptual processes involved the spontaneous visual exploration of faces and facial expressions. These studies indicate that non-human primates carry out the visual analysis of complex images such as faces in a characteristic and quantifiable manner.     

The effects of spatial phase on reaction time to spatially filtered images

Summary Many studies of visual perception have used periodic stimuli such as sine-wave gratings and checker-board patterns. It is well known that reaction time (RT) to such stimuli increases with increasing spatial frequency and decreasing contrast. While this is the case with periodic stimuli it is not clear that these relationships obtain for aperiodic stimuli such as natural scenes. A digitized image of an object (a vase) was submitted to two-dimensional Fourier analysis. Four pairs of spatial frequency band-limited images were created for each image. Each pair consisted of a normal-phase (NP) and a scrambled-phase (SP) version, with the magnitude spectrum and space-averaged luminance the same within each pair. Filter band-widths were 1 octave wide. Manual RT was measured for onset and offset of each spatially filtered image. Mean RT for SP images increased significantly with increasing spatial frequency, while no other significant differences were found with the NP images. This suggests that the temporal processing of complex, aperiodic images is influenced by the spatial frequency and contrast of local regions within the image, rather than by the space-averaged contrast of the entire image, and cannot be predicted by global estimates of contrast and spatial frequency.     

Image Events, the Public Sphere, and Argumentative Practice: The Case of Radical Environmental Groups

Operating from the assumption that a primary dynamic of contemporary public argument involves the use of visual images the authors explore the argumentative possibilities of the `image events' (staged protests designed for media dissemination) employed by radical ecology groups. In contextualizing their discussion, the authors offer an analysis of the contemporary conditions for argumentation by describing the character and operation of public communication, social problem creation, and public opinion formation in a mass-mediated public sphere. The authors argue that image events are a form of postmodern argumentative practice, a kind of oppositional argument that creates social controversy, and animates and widens possibilities for debate. They further suggest that image events are a postmodern form of argument involving acts of protest which deliver images as argumentative fragments. Employing the tools of traditional argument theory the authors describe how images are capable of offering unstated propositions and advancing indirect and incomplete claims in ways that function to block enthymemes and advance alternatives. In concluding, the authors discuss the implications of image events for our understanding of the public sphere and the possibilities for argumentation in a postmodern age.     

Effect of multiple images on associative learning

The present research investigated the effects of multiple images on associative learning. In Experiment 1, subjects formed either a noninteractive image of two words, a single interactive image, a multiple interactive image consisting of multiple copies of the same image, or a multiple interactive image consisting of different images. In Experiment 2, the different multiple images were formed across trials instead of simultaneously during the same trial. Both experiments showed that, although interactive images are superior to noninteractive images, there is no reliable facilitation from multiple images as compared with single images. The results were discussed in terms of the variable-encoding hypothesis and previous findings that multiple retrieval paths facilitate verbal learning.     

Picture This: The Influence of Emotionally Valenced Images,On Attention,Selection, and Sharing of Social Media News

Social media platforms have become the primary conduits to news for many consumers, yet little is known about how the content in social media posts is viewed and evaluated by consumers or how it shapes their decisions about selecting and sharing this information. A within-subjects eye-tracking experiment (N = 60), was conducted to examine the influence of image presence and valence on attention to and engagement with news stories on social media. Participants viewed a series of 29 social media posts of news stories, each of which was either paired with no image, a positively valenced image, or a negatively valenced image. Participants attention to the images was captured via eye tracking, and they answered dependent measures to gauge level of emotion and arousal, and intention to click and share. The results show that posts containing positive images elicited a higher level of visual attention than those with negative or no images, which led to higher intentions to click and share posts with positive images. The results provide a deeper understanding of the importance of images in driving news consumption, and offer practical implications for journalists, news organizations and groups using social media to spread a message.     

Psychopathological correlates of contextualized images in dreams

A contextualized image is a powerful central image in a dream which provides a picture context for the dominant emotion of the dreamer. This study examined the psychopathological correlates of both dream and nightmare contextualized images in a community-based sample of 378. As predicted, mean nightmare contextualized image scores were significantly higher than mean dream scores. In addition, while dream contextualized images were unrelated to psychopathology, nightmare contextualized images were significantly associated with elevated scores on three SCL-90-R subscales and the General Symptom Distress Index.     

Carryover bias in visual assessment.

Carryover of stimuli in sequential judgments was studied for a visual assessment task involving estimation of the percentage cover of black circles on a white image. Seven image types with different levels of cover density were arranged in a sequentially balanced design in which each image type was preceded the same number of times by all image types. In the absence of carryover, when images were preceded by images with the same cover density, the response scores were well fitted by a power function of percentage cover with a mean exponent of 0.73 over subjects. Carryover took the form of an assimilation, so that the cover estimate for a target image was generally higher when preceded by an image with higher cover, and lower when preceded by an image with lower cover. However, the magnitude of the carryover effect showed little evidence of increasing with difference in cover between successive images. Nonparametric and parametric methods for testing for carryover are presented. The need for development of psychological models to explain the proposed statistical models is discussed.     

Image processing for improved eye-tracking accuracy

Video cameras provide a simple, noninvasive method for monitoring a subject’s eye movements. An important concept is that of the resolution of the system, which is the smallest eye movement that can be reliably detected. While hardware systems are available that estimate direction of gaze in real time from a video image of the pupil, such systems must limit image processing to attain real-time performance and are limited to a resolution of about 10 arc minutes. Two ways to improve resolution are discussed. The first is to improve the image processing algorithms that are used to derive an estimate. Offline analysis of the data can improve resolution by at least one order of magnitude for images of the pupil. A second avenue by which to improve resolution is to increase the optical gain of the imaging setup (i.e., the amount of image motion produced by a given eye rotation). Ophthalmoscopic imaging of retinal blood vessels provides increased optical gain and improved immunity to small head movements but requires a highly sensitive camera. The large number of images involved in a typical experiment imposes great demands on the storage, handling, and processing of data. A major bottleneck had been the real-time digitization and storage of large amounts of video imagery, but recent developments in video compression hardware have made this problem tractable at a reasonable cost. Images of both the retina and the pupil can be analyzed successfully using a basic toolbox of image-processing routines (filtering, correlation, thresholding, etc.), which are, for the most part, well suited to implementation on vectorizing supercomputers.