Davida Teller Award Lecture 2017: What can be learned from natural behavior?

Abstract

The essentially active nature of vision has long been acknowledged but has been difficult to investigate because of limitations in the available instrumentation, both for measuring eye and body movements and for presenting realistic stimuli in the context of active behavior. These limitations have been substantially reduced in recent years, opening up a wider range of contexts where experimental control is possible. Given this, it is important to examine just what the benefits are for exploring natural vision, with its attendant disadvantages. Work over the last two decades provides insights into these benefits. Natural behavior turns out to be a rich domain for investigation, as it is remarkably stable and opens up new questions, and the behavioral context helps specify the momentary visual computations and their temporal evolution.