Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
@dirkbwalther.bsky.social
Professor of Psychology University of Toronto, scene perception by humans and machines, visual aesthetics.
bwlab.org
bwlab.org
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Very pleased to share that our article on preferences for complexity at different levels of order is now out in PACA! 🎉Not all types of complexity were appreciated similarly, but all were liked better under high order!
🔗 doi.org/10.1037/aca0...
📄 osf.io/preprints/ps...
@gestaltrevision.bsky.social
🔗 doi.org/10.1037/aca0...
📄 osf.io/preprints/ps...
@gestaltrevision.bsky.social
APA PsycNet
doi.org
November 2, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Very pleased to share that our article on preferences for complexity at different levels of order is now out in PACA! 🎉Not all types of complexity were appreciated similarly, but all were liked better under high order!
🔗 doi.org/10.1037/aca0...
📄 osf.io/preprints/ps...
@gestaltrevision.bsky.social
🔗 doi.org/10.1037/aca0...
📄 osf.io/preprints/ps...
@gestaltrevision.bsky.social
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Exciting update: The Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS) will host its 2026 Meeting at York University,(June 1–3, 2026), followed by the Cognition and Action Satellite Workshop (June 4–5).
@jdcrawford.bsky.social @yorku-cian.bsky.social
www.yorku.ca/research/cia...
@jdcrawford.bsky.social @yorku-cian.bsky.social
www.yorku.ca/research/cia...
October 30, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Exciting update: The Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS) will host its 2026 Meeting at York University,(June 1–3, 2026), followed by the Cognition and Action Satellite Workshop (June 4–5).
@jdcrawford.bsky.social @yorku-cian.bsky.social
www.yorku.ca/research/cia...
@jdcrawford.bsky.social @yorku-cian.bsky.social
www.yorku.ca/research/cia...
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Out of a record 662 applications from students at 178 different high schools in Ontario, 60 young learners were invited to participate in the free two-week program @utoronto.ca designed to advance equity, diversity, inclusivity & accessibility in psychology & post-secondary education.
SPRINT hits new heights breaking down barriers in science
The Summer Psychology Research Initiative (SPRINT)—an outreach and access program established five years ago by graduate students in the Department of Psychology—celebrated its biggest year yet this s...
www.psych.utoronto.ca
October 16, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Out of a record 662 applications from students at 178 different high schools in Ontario, 60 young learners were invited to participate in the free two-week program @utoronto.ca designed to advance equity, diversity, inclusivity & accessibility in psychology & post-secondary education.
October 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Hi #canadian researchers - please sign this petition to help ensure funding isn’t cut to tri council agencies (NSERC, SSHRC, and CIHR). We’re looking at potential 15% cuts to ALL federal spending including grants win.newmode.net/canadianasso...
New/Mode | Make your voice impossible to ignore
win.newmode.net
September 18, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Hi #canadian researchers - please sign this petition to help ensure funding isn’t cut to tri council agencies (NSERC, SSHRC, and CIHR). We’re looking at potential 15% cuts to ALL federal spending including grants win.newmode.net/canadianasso...
How do our senses contribute to food enjoyment?
We answer this question in a new review paper. The paper started as a final project in an undergraduate seminar on neuroaesthetics in 2023. I am so proud of the students and their hard work!
cjur.ca/wp-content/u...
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
We answer this question in a new review paper. The paper started as a final project in an undergraduate seminar on neuroaesthetics in 2023. I am so proud of the students and their hard work!
cjur.ca/wp-content/u...
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
October 14, 2025 at 1:43 AM
How do our senses contribute to food enjoyment?
We answer this question in a new review paper. The paper started as a final project in an undergraduate seminar on neuroaesthetics in 2023. I am so proud of the students and their hard work!
cjur.ca/wp-content/u...
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
We answer this question in a new review paper. The paper started as a final project in an undergraduate seminar on neuroaesthetics in 2023. I am so proud of the students and their hard work!
cjur.ca/wp-content/u...
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
"style is more than just an optional add-on for visual objects: it is part of visual processing and has consequences for how we perceive and respond to what we see"
How do we see style?
In a recent series of experiments, Boger and Firestone ask: How do we perceive style?’. Their findings suggest that style perception relies on basic p…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 7, 2025 at 5:55 PM
"style is more than just an optional add-on for visual objects: it is part of visual processing and has consequences for how we perceive and respond to what we see"
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
How well do traditional attention theories generalize to complex scene features?
@songaeun.bsky.social, @drmack.bsky.social & @dirkbwalther.bsky.social used AI-generated stimuli to find out.
👀 www.psych.utoronto.ca/news/using-g...
@songaeun.bsky.social, @drmack.bsky.social & @dirkbwalther.bsky.social used AI-generated stimuli to find out.
👀 www.psych.utoronto.ca/news/using-g...
Using generative AI to uncover how we attend to complex scene features
www.psych.utoronto.ca
October 1, 2025 at 8:18 PM
How well do traditional attention theories generalize to complex scene features?
@songaeun.bsky.social, @drmack.bsky.social & @dirkbwalther.bsky.social used AI-generated stimuli to find out.
👀 www.psych.utoronto.ca/news/using-g...
@songaeun.bsky.social, @drmack.bsky.social & @dirkbwalther.bsky.social used AI-generated stimuli to find out.
👀 www.psych.utoronto.ca/news/using-g...
The Cognitive Science Research Community (CoRC) at the University of Toronto has several exciting events in store this year:
www.uc.utoronto.ca/cognitive-sc...
Join us for science and good company!
www.uc.utoronto.ca/cognitive-sc...
Join us for science and good company!
Cognitive Science Research Community (CoRC) | University College U of T
www.uc.utoronto.ca
October 1, 2025 at 3:26 AM
The Cognitive Science Research Community (CoRC) at the University of Toronto has several exciting events in store this year:
www.uc.utoronto.ca/cognitive-sc...
Join us for science and good company!
www.uc.utoronto.ca/cognitive-sc...
Join us for science and good company!
Announcing the Toronto Aesthetics Sciences and Creativity Conference 2026! TASC 2026 brings together researchers, scholars, and students from across the Greater Toronto Area with interest in empirical aesthetics, psychology of art, and the study of creativity.
sites.google.com/view/tasc2026/
sites.google.com/view/tasc2026/
TASC 2026
Toronto-area meeting of researchers working on empirical aesthetics and creativity
April 14th, 2026
Paul Cadario Conference Centre Croft Chapter House, University College
15 King's College Circle, T...
sites.google.com
September 11, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Announcing the Toronto Aesthetics Sciences and Creativity Conference 2026! TASC 2026 brings together researchers, scholars, and students from across the Greater Toronto Area with interest in empirical aesthetics, psychology of art, and the study of creativity.
sites.google.com/view/tasc2026/
sites.google.com/view/tasc2026/
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
A new study uses AI-generated stimuli to uncover attention to complex scene features. Read more in a post by @ankosov.bsky.social on a new #psynomAPP paper by @songaeun.bsky.social, @drmack.bsky.social, and @dirkbwalther.bsky.social buff.ly/2So7ndD
September 9, 2025 at 8:01 PM
A new study uses AI-generated stimuli to uncover attention to complex scene features. Read more in a post by @ankosov.bsky.social on a new #psynomAPP paper by @songaeun.bsky.social, @drmack.bsky.social, and @dirkbwalther.bsky.social buff.ly/2So7ndD
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Commentaries for Marcos Nadal's and my recent paper "Can arts-based interventions improve health? A conceptual and methodological critique" have begun to roll in. To keep track of them I am starting this thread.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Can arts-based interventions improve health? A conceptual and methodological critique
Can art improve health and wellbeing? The claim that there is strong evidence that engaging with art ameliorates symptoms of mental and physical disor…
www.sciencedirect.com
July 15, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Commentaries for Marcos Nadal's and my recent paper "Can arts-based interventions improve health? A conceptual and methodological critique" have begun to roll in. To keep track of them I am starting this thread.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Here's a link to freely access my recent comment on debates in arts and health research.
Yes free.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Yes free.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
There is more to arts and health than neural mechanisms: A Critique of Evidence Dismissal in Arts and Health: Comment on “Can arts-based interventions improve health? A conceptual and methodological c...
www.sciencedirect.com
July 3, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Here's a link to freely access my recent comment on debates in arts and health research.
Yes free.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Yes free.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Happy Canada Day, tout le monde! 🇨🇦
July 1, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Happy Canada Day, tout le monde! 🇨🇦
@mskov01.bsky.social and @mnadal.bsky.social recently reviewed arts-based interventions:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
I got the opportunity to write a comment:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
TLDR: ABIs hold some promise but must be tested with the same rigor as other treatments.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
I got the opportunity to write a comment:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
TLDR: ABIs hold some promise but must be tested with the same rigor as other treatments.
Can arts-based interventions improve health? A conceptual and methodological critique
Can art improve health and wellbeing? The claim that there is strong evidence that engaging with art ameliorates symptoms of mental and physical disor…
www.sciencedirect.com
June 27, 2025 at 10:05 AM
@mskov01.bsky.social and @mnadal.bsky.social recently reviewed arts-based interventions:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
I got the opportunity to write a comment:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
TLDR: ABIs hold some promise but must be tested with the same rigor as other treatments.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
I got the opportunity to write a comment:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
TLDR: ABIs hold some promise but must be tested with the same rigor as other treatments.
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Our computer vision textbook is now available for free online here:
visionbook.mit.edu
We are working on adding some interactive components like search and (beta) integration with LLMs.
Hope this is useful and feel free to submit Github issues to help us improve the text!
visionbook.mit.edu
We are working on adding some interactive components like search and (beta) integration with LLMs.
Hope this is useful and feel free to submit Github issues to help us improve the text!
Foundations of Computer Vision
The print version was published by
visionbook.mit.edu
June 15, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Our computer vision textbook is now available for free online here:
visionbook.mit.edu
We are working on adding some interactive components like search and (beta) integration with LLMs.
Hope this is useful and feel free to submit Github issues to help us improve the text!
visionbook.mit.edu
We are working on adding some interactive components like search and (beta) integration with LLMs.
Hope this is useful and feel free to submit Github issues to help us improve the text!
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Excited to share my 1st Bluesky post: 2 studies reveal age biases in other-race face perception using GAN reconstruction and EEG. Congratulations to @moazshoura.bsky.social for this research - in collaboration with @dirkbwalther.bsky.social |
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Researchers harness brain activity to look at how we perceive faces from other racial groups differently
Researchers at U of T Scarborough have used brain activity and AI to reveal why we have a tough time recognizing facial details of people from other races.
www.eurekalert.org
May 23, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Excited to share my 1st Bluesky post: 2 studies reveal age biases in other-race face perception using GAN reconstruction and EEG. Congratulations to @moazshoura.bsky.social for this research - in collaboration with @dirkbwalther.bsky.social |
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
How fast do we extract distance cues from scenes 🛤️🏞️🏜️ and integrate them with retinal size 🧸🐻 to infer real object size? Our new EEG study in Cortex has answers! w/ @dkaiserlab.bsky.social @suryagayet.bsky.social @peelen.bsky.social
Check it out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Check it out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The neural time course of size constancy in natural scenes
Accurate real-world size perception relies on size constancy, a mechanism that integrates an object's retinal size with distance information. The neur…
www.sciencedirect.com
May 17, 2025 at 12:21 PM
How fast do we extract distance cues from scenes 🛤️🏞️🏜️ and integrate them with retinal size 🧸🐻 to infer real object size? Our new EEG study in Cortex has answers! w/ @dkaiserlab.bsky.social @suryagayet.bsky.social @peelen.bsky.social
Check it out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Check it out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
With the usual caveats of the need for more and better studies. Yet, the evidence does support the use of some kinds of art in clinical spaces. 🧪A Room with a View (of Art) | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brai...
A Room with a View (of Art)
Enhancing the built environment with visual art is a major program of the arts in healthcare movement. Does it work?
www.psychologytoday.com
May 16, 2025 at 7:28 PM
With the usual caveats of the need for more and better studies. Yet, the evidence does support the use of some kinds of art in clinical spaces. 🧪A Room with a View (of Art) | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brai...
What features guide visual search for complex scenes? In her new APP paper, @songaeun.bsky.social uses scenes generated with a GAN to isolate features that guide search: layout, material properties, and lighting.
rdcu.be/elPgO
@drmack.bsky.social
@macklab.bsky.social
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
rdcu.be/elPgO
@drmack.bsky.social
@macklab.bsky.social
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
May 13, 2025 at 10:07 AM
What features guide visual search for complex scenes? In her new APP paper, @songaeun.bsky.social uses scenes generated with a GAN to isolate features that guide search: layout, material properties, and lighting.
rdcu.be/elPgO
@drmack.bsky.social
@macklab.bsky.social
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
rdcu.be/elPgO
@drmack.bsky.social
@macklab.bsky.social
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Western University is seeking applications for Canada Excellence Research Chairs. Please reach out if you are interested in Theme 2: Neuroscience. Western has extraordinary strengths in cognitive, molecular and systems neuroscience across species (rodents, NHPs, humans) uwo.ca/research/cer...
May 5, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Western University is seeking applications for Canada Excellence Research Chairs. Please reach out if you are interested in Theme 2: Neuroscience. Western has extraordinary strengths in cognitive, molecular and systems neuroscience across species (rodents, NHPs, humans) uwo.ca/research/cer...
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Excited for the Balas Lab to be part of the Plains Art Museum's Spring Gala tonight! This year's theme is "Color Flings" and we'll be there to showcase some of our #VisionScience research (with @dirkbwalther.bsky.social ) investigating the patterns and colors kids think match different emotions.
Spring Gala 2025: Color Flings
Fling into Spring with Color
givebutter.com
May 3, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Excited for the Balas Lab to be part of the Plains Art Museum's Spring Gala tonight! This year's theme is "Color Flings" and we'll be there to showcase some of our #VisionScience research (with @dirkbwalther.bsky.social ) investigating the patterns and colors kids think match different emotions.
Reposted by Dirk Bernhardt-Walther
Marcos Nadal and I are pleased to announce that our new paper, "The sensory valuation account of aesthetic experience", is now out in Nature Reviews Psychology.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
November 28, 2024 at 2:15 PM
Marcos Nadal and I are pleased to announce that our new paper, "The sensory valuation account of aesthetic experience", is now out in Nature Reviews Psychology.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
It was truly inspiring to see the range of aesthetics research at TASC 2025. Great talks and a tour of the art collection at Simcoe Hall. Read more about it here:
psych.utoronto.ca/news/what-do...
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
@uc-uoft.bsky.social
@uoftartsci.bsky.social
@uoft.bsky.social
psych.utoronto.ca/news/what-do...
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
@uc-uoft.bsky.social
@uoftartsci.bsky.social
@uoft.bsky.social
What do we find beautiful, and how? New conference investigates
psych.utoronto.ca
May 1, 2025 at 1:47 PM
It was truly inspiring to see the range of aesthetics research at TASC 2025. Great talks and a tour of the art collection at Simcoe Hall. Read more about it here:
psych.utoronto.ca/news/what-do...
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
@uc-uoft.bsky.social
@uoftartsci.bsky.social
@uoft.bsky.social
psych.utoronto.ca/news/what-do...
@uoftpsychology.bsky.social
@uc-uoft.bsky.social
@uoftartsci.bsky.social
@uoft.bsky.social