Investigation of the perceptual and attention processes that influence the formation of our perceptions of the visual world and of visual memories, and exploration of the structure and content of visual representations comprise the primary foci of Gerhardstein's research. He subscribes to the view that these areas' processes are interrelated. Current research in the lab includes investigations of both low-level perceptual development (investigating the development of contour integration, orientation sensitivity and other low-level vision abilities in infants and children) and higher-level issues relating to the ability to transfer training from screen media (video, television, interactive touch screens) to a 'live,' or 3-D person-to-person interaction, a situation in which young children have been found to underperform to a surprising degree. An additional line of work is focused on the extent to which long-term exposure to digital content may alter visual perception, including orientation sensitivity. As part of this exploration, analysis of the underlying information contained in different types of images (natural, urban, TV and online digital content of many types) is conducted to inform our understanding of how online content itself differs from information in ‘real-world’ images. Accepting graduate students for Fall 2024.
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