State University of New York SUNY State College of Optometry


Backus Perception Lab
SUNY Optometry
33 W. 42nd St.
New York, NY 10036
212-938-5597
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Other labs at SUNY Optometry:

Jose-Manuel Alonso
Visual cortex

Harold Sedgwick
Visual perception

Qasim Zaidi
Visual perception

More great labs
Basic and clinical

Yet more great labs
Primarily clinical


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The Backus Lab

- Publications

  1. Harrison S.J., Backus, B.T., (2010) Disambiguating Necker cube rotation using a location cue: What types of spatial location signal can the visual system learn? Journal of Vision (In Press)
  2. Harrison S.J., Backus B.T. (2010) Uninformative visual experience establishes long term perceptual bias. Vision Research (accepted)
  3. Fuller, S., van Dam, L., Ernst, M. & Backus, B.T. (submitted). Influence of disambiguated trials on perception of bistable stimuli. Journal of Vision
  4. Backus, B.T. (2009) The Mixture of Bernoulli Experts: a theory to quantify reliance on cues in dichotomous perceptual decisions. Journal of Vision, 9(1):6, 1-19.
    PDF 818.0 KB
  5. Wilmer JB & Backus BT (2008). Self-reported Magic Eye stereogram skill predicts stereoacuity. Perception, 2008;37(8):1297-300.
    PDF 130.3 KB
  6. Saunders JA & Backus BT (2007). Both Parallelism and orthogonality are used to perceive 3D slant of rectangles from 2D images.Journal of Vision, 7, 7.
    PDF 440.6 KB
  7. Backus BT &Haijiang Q (2007). Competition between newly recruited and pre-existing visual cues during the construction of visual appearance. Vision Research, 47 919-24.
    PDF 303.0 KB
  8. Duke PA, Oruc I, Qi H & Backus BT (2006). Depth aftereffects mediated by vertical disparities: calibration of extraretinal signals during stereopsis. Vision Research 2006 Jan; 46 (1-2): 228-41
    PDF 315.7 KB
  9. Saunders JA & Backus BT (2006). The accuracy and reliability of perceived depth from linear perspective as a function of image size. Journal of Vision, 6, 933-954
    PDF 623.6 KB
  10. Saunders JA & Backus BT (2006). Perception of surface slant from oriented textures. Journal of Vision, 6, 882-897.
    PDF 2.3 MB
  11. Haijiang, Q., Saunders, J.A., Stone, R.W., & Backus, B.T. (2006). Demonstration of cue recruitment: Change in visual appearance by means of Pavlovian conditioning. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 103: 483-486.
    PDF 406.5 KB
  12. Backus BT & Oruç I (2005). Illusory motion from change over time in the response to contrast and luminance. Journal of Vision, 5: 1055–1069.
    PDF 1.1 MB
  13. Zabulis X & Backus BT (2004). Starry night: a texture devoid of depth cues. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 21:2049-2060.
    PDF 786.6 KB
  14. Backus BT & Matza-Brown D (2003). The contribution of vergence change to the measurement of relative disparity. Journal of Vision, 3:737-750.
    PDF 1.2 MB
  15. Banks MS, Backus BT and Banks RS (2002). Is vertical disparity used to determine azimuth? Vision Research 42: 801-7.
    PDF 388.1 KB
  16. Backus, B.T. (2001). Perceptual metamers in stereoscopic vision.In Neural Information Processing Systems 2001, Vancouver, Canada
    PDF 65.1 KB
  17. Backus BT, Fleet DJ, Parker AJ & Heeger DJ (2001). Human cortical activity correlates with stereoscopic depth perception.Journal of Neurophysiology 86: 2054-68.
  18. Wandell BA, Chial S & Backus BT (2000). Visualization and Measurement of the Cortical Surface. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12: 739-752.
    PDF 1.2 MB
  19. Ress D, Backus BT & Heeger DJ (2000). Activity in primary visual cortex predicts performance in a visual detection task. Nature Neuroscience, 3: 940–945.
  20. Backus BT (2000). Stereoscopic vision: What’s the first step? (Dispatch). Current Biology,10: R701-R703.
    PDF 65.5 KB
  21. Banks MS, and Backus BT (1999). Horizontal and vertical disparity, and eye position, in stereoscopic slant perception. Chapter 3 in
    Vision and Action
    . L.R. Harris and M. Jenkin, Eds. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  22. van Ee R, Banks MS, and Backus BT (1999). Perceived visual direction near an occluder.Vision Research, 39: 4085-4097.
    PDF 327.1 KB
  23. van Ee R, Bank MS & Backus BT (1999). An analysis of binocular slant contrast.Perception, 28: 1121-1145.
    PDF 261.3 KB
  24. Backus BT, Banks MS, van Ee R & Crowell JA (1999). Horizontal and vertical disparity, eye position, and stereoscopic slant perception. Vision Research, 39: 1143-1170.
    PDF 850.8 KB
  25. Backus BT & Banks MS (1999). Estimator reliability and distance scaling in stereoscopic slant perception. Perception, 28: 217-242.
    PDF 501.5 KB
  26. Banks MS, and Backus BT (1998). Extra-retinal and perspective cues cause the small range of the induced effect. Vision Research, 38:187-94.
    PDF 615.3 KB
  27. Banks MS, van Ee R & Backus BT (1997). The computation of visual direction: A re-examination of Mansfield and Legge (1996). Vision Research, 37:1605-13.
    PDF 616.8 KB
  28. Backus BT (1996). Uses of dynamic geometry software for teaching and research in optometry and vision science. Chapter in James King (Ed.), Geometry Turned On: Dynamic Geometry, Theory and Application. New York: Mathematical Association of America.
  29. Banks MS, Ehrlich SM, Backus BT & Crowell JA (1996). Estimating heading during real and simulated eye movements. Vision Research, 36: 431-444.