Liu, Zili - University of California, Los Angeles

个人简介

PhD in Cognitive Science, Dept. of Cogntive and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University MSc in Applied Mathematics, Brown University BSc in Physics, Peking (Beijing) University, China

研究领域

he question that interests me most is: how does our visually perceived world differ from the physical world? Obviously our perceptual representation of the world is not a replica, but reflects our unique evolutionary and ecological needs. We selectively amplify certain details in the world and ignore others and, via practice, increase our sensitivity to those details that are deemed important (perceptual learning). We organize these important perceptual details into categories (e.g., objects) and encode them into memory in specific ways so that we can recognize objects effortlessly (object recognition, including face recognition). These organized categories, in turn, impose on our senses so that we perceive the world in a regular, coherent, and stable manner (perceptual organization). Indeed, the nature of our perceptual representations is one of the most important questions in psychology, and it is this question that has been my main research interest. I am interested in nearly all aspects of visual perception. These include three-dimensional (3D) motion perception, 3D shape perception, perceptual learning, and computational modeling. Recently, our lab has expanded to study action perception and visual motor behavior. The overarching question we ask in the lab is how the perceptual brain integrates sensory information to arrive at a coherent, stable description of the world. Most of the time, this description is consistent with reality. However, there are also times when it is not, and that is when illusions occur. These illusions provide a unique window into the inner workings of the brain, as follows. An illusion occurs when objective sensory information is highly ambiguous. The brain, rather than being indecisive, uses Bayesian priors to disambiguate the sensory information to arrive at a unique and vivid percept. In this context, modeling the brain’s Bayesian inference becomes both natural and necessary.

近期论文

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Ju Liang, Yifeng Zhou, Manfred Fahle, and Zili Liu Limited Transfer of Long-Term Motion Perceptual Learning with Double Training. Journal of Vision (Special Issue: Perceptual Learning), 2015; 15(1): 1 - 9. Ju Liang, Yifeng Zhou, Manfred Fahle, Zili Liu Specificity of motion discrimination learning even with double training and staircase. Journal of Vision (Special Issue: Perceptual Learning), 2015; 15(3): 1 - 10. Andrew Silva and Zili Liu. Opponent Backgrounds Reduce Discrimination Sensitivity to Competing Motions: Effects of Different Vertical Motions on Horizontal Motion Perception. Vision Research, 2015; 113: 55-64. Nihong Chen, Taiyong Bi, Tiangang Zhou, Sheng Li, Zili Liu, and Fang Fang. Sharpened cortical tuning and enhanced cortico-cortical communication contribute to the long-term neural mechanisms of visual motion perceptual learning. Neuro Image, 2015; 115: 17 -- 29. Xiaoxiao Wang, Yifeng Zhou, Zili Liu. Transfer in motion perceptual learning depends on the difficulty of the training task. Journal of Vision. 2013; 13((7):5): 1 -- 9. Benjamin Thompson, Bosco S. Tjan, Zili Liu. Perceptual Learning of Motion Direction Discrimination with Suppressed and Unsuppressed MT in Humans: An fMRI Study.PLoS ONE. 2013; 8(1): 1--14. Tandra Ghose, Zili Liu. Generalization between canonical and non-canonical views in object recognition. Journal of Vision. 2013; 13(1): 1--15. Xuan Huang, Hongjing Lu, Yifeng Zhou, Zili Liu. General and specific perceptual learning in radial speed discrimination. Journal of Vision. 2011; 11(4, article 7): 1 -- 11. Hongjing Lu, Zili Liu. When a never-seen but less-occluded image is better recognized: Evidence from same-different matching experiments and a model. Journal of Vision. 2009; 9(4): 1-12. Zhou J, Gotch C, Zhou Y, Liu Z Perceiving an object in its context -- is the context cultural or perceptual?. Journal of Vision. 2008; 8(12(2)): 1-5. Lu H, Liu Z When a never-seen but less-occluded image is better recognized: Evidence from old?new memory experiments. Journal of Vision. 2008; 8(7(31)): 1-9.