Jason Gold

Jason Gold

Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences

Director of Undergraduate Studies, Psychological and Brain Sciences


Education

  • Ph.D., University of Toronto, 2001

Research interests

One of the most important abilities we possess is our capacity to detect, discriminate and identify objects in our environment. It is difficult to imagine navigating through the world without the ability to reliably detect objects in our path; or having social interactions without the ability to recognize other people's faces. These are tasks that we perform with ease and on a continual basis every day. But how does our visual system translate the array of light that reaches our eyes into an organized representation of meaningful objects embedded within complex scenes? My research is directed towards understanding some of these processes that are performed on visual patterns after the initial stages of sensory encoding. I am particularly interested in understanding what it is that limits our ability to use the information that is available to us when we are trying to detect or recognize visual patterns. My approach typically involves the use of a variety of psychophysical and signal-processing methods (such as ideal observer analysis and signal detection theory) to quantitatively characterize the mechanisms involved in various perceptual processes, such as perceptual learning, visual completion, face recognition and visual memory decay.

Representative publications

Inversion leads to quantitative, not qualitative, changes in face processing (2004)
Allison B Sekuler, Carl M Gaspar, Jason M Gold and Patrick J Bennett
Current Biology, 14 (5), 391-396

Signal but not noise changes with perceptual learning (1999)
J Gold, PJ Bennett and AB Sekuler
Nature, 402 (6758), 176

Identification of band-pass filtered letters and faces by human and ideal observers (1999)
Jason Gold, Patrick J Bennett and Allison B Sekuler
Vision research, 39 (21), 3537-3560

Deriving behavioural receptive fields for visually completed contours (2000)
Jason M Gold, Richard F Murray, Patrick J Bennett and Allison B Sekuler
Current Biology, 10 (11), 663-666

Characterizing perceptual learning with external noise (2004)
Jason M Gold, Allison B Sekuler and Partrick J Bennett
Cognitive Science, 28 (2), 167-207

Discrete-slots models of visual working-memory response times (2013)
Christopher Donkin, Robert M Nosofsky, Jason M Gold and Richard M Shiffrin
Psychological Review, 120 (4), 873

The perception of a face is no more than the sum of its parts (2012)
Jason M Gold, Patrick J Mundy and Bosco S Tjan
Psychological science, 23 (4), 427-434

The effect of the physical characteristics of cues and targets on facilitation and inhibition (2001)
Jay Pratt, Jamie Hillis and Jason M Gold
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8 (3), 489-495

Troubles with bubbles (2004)
Richard F Murray and Jason M Gold
Vision Research, 44 (5), 461-470

Visual memory decay is deterministic (2005)
Jason M Gold, Richard F Murray, Allison B Sekuler, Patrick J Bennett and Robert Sekuler
Psychological Science, 16 (10), 769-774

The response of face-selective cortex with single face parts and part combinations (2012)
Lindsay R Arcurio, Jason M Gold and Thomas W James
Neuropsychologia, 50 (10), 2454-2459

The efficiency of dynamic and static facial expression recognition (2013)
Jason M Gold, Jarrett D Barker, Shawn Barr, Jennifer L Bittner, W Drew Bromfield, Nicole Chu ...
Journal of vision, 13 (5), 23-23

The efficiency of biological motion perception (2008)
Jason M Gold, Duje Tadin, Susan C Cook and Randolph Blake
Perception & Psychophysics, 70 (1), 88-95

The spatiotemporal properties of visual completion measured by response classification (2006)
Jason M Gold and Erin Shubel
Journal of Vision, 6 (4), 5-May

Verbal labeling, gradual decay, and sudden death in visual short-term memory (2015)
Chris Donkin, Robert Nosofsky, Jason Gold and Richard Shiffrin
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 22 (1), 170-178

Dissertation Committee Service

Author Dissertation Title Committee
Alexander, Will A Real-Time Model of Attention (September 2006) Sporns, O. (Chair), Goldstone, R., Kruschke, J., Yaeger, L.
Blaha, Leslie A Dynamic Hebbian-style Model of Configural Learning (December 2010) Townsend, J. (Co-Chair), Busey, T. (Co-Chair), Gold, J,. Trosset, M.
Chalmers, David Toward a Theory of Consciousness (May 1993) Hofstadter, D. (Co-Chair), Dunn, J. (Co-Chair), van Gelder, T., Goldstone, R.
Desai, R. Modeling Interaction of Syntax and Semantics in Language Acquisition (December 2002) Gasser, M. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Port, R., Smith, L.
Dimperio, Eric A Dynamic Model of Planning Behaviors in Multi-Stage Risky Decision Tasks (August 2009) Busemeyer, J., Goldstone, R., Kruschke, J., Scheutz, M.
Foundalis, Harry E. Phaeaco: A Cognitive Architecture Inspired by Bongard’s Problems (May 2006) Hofstadter, D. (Chair), Gasser, M., Goldstone, R., Leake, D.
Frey, Seth Complex Collective Dynamics in Human Higher-Level Reasoning. A Study Over Multiple Methods (August 2013) Goldstone, R. (Chair), Todd, P., Beer, R., Busemeyer, J.
Gokcesu, Bahriye S. Metaphor Processing and Polysemy (December 2007) Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Gasser, M. (Co-Chair), Gershkoff-Stowe L., Jones, M.
Hanania, Rima Selective Attention and Attention Shifting in Preschool Children (August 2009) Smith, L. (Co-Chair), Gershkoff-Stowe, L. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R., Jones, S.
Hockema, S. A. Perception as Prediction (April 2004) Gasser, M. (Co-Chair), Smith, L. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R., Port, R., Hummel, J.
Honey, Christopher Fluctuations & Flows in Large-Scale Brain Networks (April 2009) Townsend, J,. Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Beggs, J., Sporns, O. (Co-Chair)
Kachergis, George Earle Mechanisms for Cross-Situational Learning of Word-Referent Mappings: Empirical and Modeling Evidence (December 2012) Shiffrin, R. (Co-Chair), Yu, C. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R., Jones, M., Kruschke, J.
Loehrlein, Aaron Priming Effects Associated with the Hierarchical Levels Of Classification Systems (March 2012) Jacob, E. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Ekbia, H., Ding, Y.
Mahabal, Abhijit Seqsee: A Concept-Centered Architecture for Sequence Perception (March 2010) Hofstadter, D. (Chair), Gasser, M., Goldstone, R., Leake, D.
Mason, Winter Implicit Social Influence (August 2007) Smith, E. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Tormala, Z., Sporns, O.
McGraw, G. E. Jr. Letter Spirit (Part One): Emergent High-Level Perception of Letters Using Fluid Concepts (September 1995) Hofstadter, D. R. (Chair), Gasser, M. Goldstone, R., Port, R. F., Rawlins, G. J. E.
Nelson, Angela Examining the Co-Evolution of Knowledge and Event Memory (August 2009) Shiffrin, R. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Busey, T., James, K.
Paik, Jae H Fraction Concepts: A Complex System of Mappings (May 2005) Mix, K. (Co-Chair), Gasser, M., Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Smith, L.
Place, Skyler Non-Independent Mate Choice in Humans: Deciphering And Utilizing Information in a Social Environment (July 2010) Todd, P. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Smith, E., Wasserman, S., West, M.
Recchia, Gabriel Investigating the Semantics of Abstract Concepts: Evidence From a Property Generation Game (December 2012) Jones, M. (Chair), Goldstone, R., Kubler, S., Todd, P.
Rehling, J. A. Letter Spirit (Part Two): Modeling Creativity in A Visual Domain (July 2001) Hofstadter, D. R. (Chair), Gasser, M., Goldstone, R., Port, R. F.
Roberts, Michael Human Collective Behavior: Complex systems properties of self-organizations, coordination, and emergent. (July 2008) Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Ostrom, E. (Co-Chair), Smith, E., Todd, P.
Ross, Travis Steering Social Behavior in Online Video Games: A Calibration and Test of The Rational Reconstruction of Norms in a Multiplayer Dungeon Crawl (November 2013) Castronova, E. (Chair), Lang, A., Goldstone, R., Weaver, A.
Sanborn, Adam Uncovering Mental Representations with Markov Chain Monte Carl (September 2007) R. Shiffrin (Chair), R. Nosofsky, J. Gold, M. Jones
Shayan, Shakila Emergence of Roles in English Canonical Transitive Construction (June 2008) Gasser, M. (Co-Chair), Gershkoff-Stowe, L. (Co-Chair), Leake, D., Goldstone, R., Smith, L.
Son, Ji Y. Forces of Contextualization and Decontextualization: A Look at Symbols, Experience, and Language (August 2007) Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Smith, L (Co-Chair), Gasser, M., Yu, C.
Stanton, Roger Dissociations of Classification: Evidence against the Multiple Learning-Systems Hypothesis (August 2007) Nosofsky, R. (Chair), Goldstone, R., James, T., Kruschke, J.
Tamara, Carolina Route Learning And Its Interaction With Visual Landmarks (May 2013) Timberlake, W. (chair), Crystal, J., Goldstone, R., Todd, P.
Theiner, Georg From Extened Minds to Group Minds: Rethinking The Boundaries Of The Mental (July 2008) O’Connor, T. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Schmitt, R., Weinberg, J.
Thomas, Wisdom Incentives, Innovation, and Imitation: Social Learning in a Networked Group (August 2010) Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Ostrom, E. (Co-Chair), Collins, K., Gold, J., Smith, E.
Vigo, Ronaldo Mathematical Principles of Boolean Concept Learning (May 2008) Allen, C. (Co-Chair), Kruschke, J. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R., Nosofsky, R., Townsend, J.
Weidemann, Christophe Identifying brief stimuli: Perceptual, preferential, and decisional aspects (August 2006) Shiffrin, R. (Chair), Gold, J., Goldstone, R., Todd, P.
Wild, Heather Applying Signal Detection Theory to Evoked Response Potentials For Understanding Mechanisms of Bias and Sensitivity in Face Detection Tasks (September 2006) Busey, T. (Co-Chair), Candy, R., Gold, J., Townsend, J. (Co-Chair)