Perception as Bayesian Inference

This 1996 book describes an exciting theoretical paradigm for visual perception based on experimental and computational insights.

David C. Knill (Edited by), Whitman Richards (Edited by)

9780521064996, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 June 2008

532 pages, 140 b/w illus.
25.3 x 17.7 x 2.6 cm, 0.906 kg

Bayesian probability theory has emerged not only as a powerful tool for building computational theories of vision, but also as a general paradigm for studying human visual perception. This 1996 book provides an introduction to and critical analysis of the Bayesian paradigm. Leading researchers in computer vision and experimental vision science describe general theoretical frameworks for modelling vision, detailed applications to specific problems and implications for experimental studies of human perception. The book provides a dialogue between different perspectives both within chapters, which draw on insights from experimental and computational work, and between chapters, through commentaries written by the contributors on each others' work. Students and researchers in cognitive and visual science will find much to interest them in this thought-provoking collection.

1. Introduction D. C. Knill, D. Kersten and A. Yuille
2. Pattern theory: a unifying perspective D. Mumford
3. Modal structure and reliable inference A. Jepson, W. Richards and D. C. Knill
4. Priors, preferences and categorical percepts W. Richards, A. Jepson and J. Feldman
5. Bayesian decision theory and psychophysics A. L. Yuille and H. H. Bulthoff
6. Observer theory, Bayes theory, and psychophysics B. M. Bennett, D. D. Hoffman, C. Prakash and S. N. Richman
7. Implications of a Bayesian formulation D. C. Knill, D. Kersten and P. Mamassian
8. Shape from texture: ideal observers and human psychophysics A. Blake, H. H. Bulthoff and D. Sheinberg
9. A computational theory for binocular stereopsis P. N. Belhumeur
10. The generic viewpoint assumption in a Bayesian framework W. T. Freeman
11. Experiencing and perceiving visual surfaces K. Nakayama and S. Shimojo
12. The perception of shading and reflectance E. H. Adelson and A. P. Pentland
13. Banishing the Homunculus H. Barlow.

Subject Areas: Computer vision [UYQV], Neurosciences [PSAN], Perception [JMRP]