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John I. Yellott

Professor Emeritus, Cognitive Sciences
School of Social Sciences

PH.D., Stanford University, 1966

Phone: (949) 824-7278
Fax: (949) 824-2307
Email: jyellott@uci.edu

University of California
3151 Social Sciences Plaza
Mail Code: 5100
Irvine, CA 92697


Research
Interests
mathematical analysis of learning and perception
   
URL www.socsci.uci.edu/cogsci/personnel/yellott/yellott.html
   
Research
Abstract
I've worked on a variety of topics, including retinal anatomy, texture perception, image processing, learning, reaction time, and choice and ranking. Currently I am studying the possibility of creating visual stimuli that are precorrected for the optical phase distortions (phase reversals, or "spurious resolution") that occur when a human eye is out of focus--e.g., when a person who needs reading glasses tries to read without them. Computer modeling shows that correcting spurious resolution can greatly improve the legibility of defocused text. In principle such an improvement can be achieved in advance, by reshaping printed letters in such a way that subsequent defocus in the eye restores them to their proper shapes. I am working on the mathematical theory that explains this improvement and establishes its quantitative parameters. The theory that has emerged provides a complete account of this type of phase-only deconvolution, and explains its characteristic properties and practical limitations.
   
Publications A complete list of publications can be found at the Web site listed above.
   
Professional
Societies
Optical Society of America (Fellow)
Association for Psychological Science (Fellow)
   
Research Center Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Science
   
Link to this profile http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=2598
   
Last updated 07/21/2006