Dual Visual System Studies in Politics and Sports
Jeffrey Lin (pictured here explaining his experiment to a participant)
and advisors Geoffrey Boynton and Scott Murray use science based on dual
visual systems to explain the George Bush “shoe-ducking”
incident--specifically, why former President Bush ducked in time, but
Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki did not flinch. In the split second
before the shoe is launched towards the men, they each have different
perceptions of the same event as it unfolds. Bush decides to duck while
al-Maliki deems the shoe as non-threatening. The study explores how
something may visually
appear
the same but is processed differently depending on the viewer, strongly
suggesting a dual visual system.
This work is published in a high-tier journal Current Biology, and was in the news at Times Online , Scientific American, Scientific Blog , and UW News .
Relating to this research, Lin and his advisors are also hoping to apply
these principles to the game of baseball. Perhaps it will explain some
of the mechanisms underlying accurate performance and decision
making. Furthermore, it may one day allow researchers to predict
in the lab player performance on the field. This story was on TV in
multiple locations:
http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11039936
http://www.wxow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11105389