Professor Roger Watt

Emeritus Professor

Psychology University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Professor Roger Watt

Contact details

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http://www.stir.ac.uk/people/rjwatt

About me

I have been a researcher in psychology, and especially human perception for the whole of my career. Before moving to Stirling in 1988 I held a Scientist post at the MRC Applied Psychology Unit in Cambridge. That followed post-doc posts at Durham, UCL and Cambridge. My PhD was done in the Dept of Communication at Keele - where engineers were doing reserch into mechanisms of biological perception.

My research interests have included, basic mechanisms in visual perception, some aspects of music perception and latterly issues in the use of statistics in Psychology.

I have been involved as expert witness in a range of different forensic settings. The most significant was when I was instructed to provide evidence for the Cullen Inquiry into the Paddington Rail Disaster. I was credited with providing the most convincing explanation for a driver passing a red signal.

I have been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh since 1995.   I have been very much engaged with facilitating student-led teaching. Many years ago, I introduced the concept of final year undergraduate students developing and delivering their own 10-credit elective modules to their peers. Subsequently I led on a project that saw final year undergraduate students provide all the face-to-face teaching of statistics to second year students. Both of these initiatives continue.

Award

Fellow Royal Society of Edinburgh

Research (1)

I am an active researcher with interests in many aspects of human perception. I approach my research with a combination of empirical methods - measuring what people can perceive - and computational methods - developing and assessing computer models of the neuronal processes in human perception.

Projects

Integration of contour Information in human vision.
PI: Professor Roger Watt
Funded by: The Leverhulme Trust
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Outputs (59)

Outputs

Conference Paper (published)

Fast Lip Feature Extraction Using Psychologically Motivated Gabor Features

Abel A, Gao C, Smith L, Watt R & Hussain A (2018) Fast Lip Feature Extraction Using Psychologically Motivated Gabor Features. In: 2018 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI). IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence, SSCI 2018, Bangalore, India, 18.11.2018-21.11.2018. Piscataway, NJ, USA: IEEE, pp. 1033-1040. https://doi.org/10.1109/SSCI.2018.8628931

Conference Paper (published)

A Data Driven Approach to Audiovisual Speech Mapping

Abel A, Marxer R, Hussain A, Barker J, Watt R, Whitmer B & Derleth P (2016) A Data Driven Approach to Audiovisual Speech Mapping. In: Liu C, Hussain A, Luo B, Tan K, Zeng Y & Zhang Z (eds.) Advances in Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 10023. BICS 2016: International Conference on Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems, Beijing, China, 28.11.2016-30.11.2016. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp. 331-342. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49685-6_30

Article

Psychological Literacy: a multi-faceted perspective

Hulme J, Skinner R, Worsnop F, Collins E, Banyard P, Kitching H, Watt R & Goodson S (2015) Psychological Literacy: a multi-faceted perspective. Psychology Teaching Review, 21 (2), pp. 13-24. https://shop.bps.org.uk/publications/psychology-teaching-review-vol-21-no-2-autumn-2015.html

Conference Abstract

Decoding bar-codes in images of human faces

Watt R & Dakin SC (2009) Decoding bar-codes in images of human faces. Perception, 38 (ECVP Abstract Supplement), pp. 166-166. http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=v090536

Conference Abstract

Disrupting the perceived time between visual events

Quinn S, Goutcher R & Watt R (2009) Disrupting the perceived time between visual events. Perception, 38 (ECVP Abstract Supplement), pp. 130-130. http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=v090536

Book Chapter

Finding and discriminating faces using biological barcodes

Dakin SC & Watt R (2009) Finding and discriminating faces using biological barcodes. In: Stoica A, Arlsan T, Erdogan A, Higuchi T, Bouridane A & El-Rayis A (eds.) 2009 International Symposium on Bio-inspired, Learning, and Intelligent Systems for Security, BLISS 2009. Los Alamitos, CA, USA: IEEE Computer Society Press, p. 50. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=5376852; https://doi.org/10.1109/BLISS.2009.26

Commentary

"Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end ... "

Watt R & Goutcher R (2009) "Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end ... ". Commentary on: Pollard S B, Mayhew J E W, Frisby J P, 1985 "PMF: A stereo correspondence algorithm using a disparity gradient limit", Perception, 14.4, pp.449-470. Perception, 38 (6), pp. 889-891. https://doi.org/10.1068/pmkpol

Conference Abstract

No role for attention in orientation crowding

Dakin SC, Bex PJ, Cass JR & Watt R (2007) No role for attention in orientation crowding. Perception, 36 (2), pp. 303-304. http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=ava06

Conference Abstract

Families of models for the 'Gabor path' paradigm

Watt R, Dakin SC & Ledgeway T (2007) Families of models for the 'Gabor path' paradigm. Perception, 36 (9), pp. 1401-1401. http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=pava07am

Conference Paper (published)

The perception of local and global timing in simple melodies

Quinn S & Watt R (2006) The perception of local and global timing in simple melodies. In: Baroni M, Addessi AR, Caterina R & Costa M (eds.) 9th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, Proceedings. 9th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 22.08.2006-26.08.2006. ICMPC / The Society for Music Perception & Cognition (SMPC) and European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM), pp. 1538-1538. http://www.marcocosta.it/icmpc2006/proceedings.htm

Conference Paper (published)

Analysis of local and global timing and pitch change in ordinary melodies

Watt R & Quinn S (2006) Analysis of local and global timing and pitch change in ordinary melodies. In: Baroni M, Addessi AR, Caterina R & Costa M (eds.) 9th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, Proceedings. 9th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 22.08.2006-26.08.2006. Jyväskylä, Finland: ICMPC / The Society for Music Perception & Cognition (SMPC) and European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM), pp. 30-37. http://www.marcocosta.it/icmpc2006/proceedings.htm

Conference Abstract

Face detection in natural scenes

Hill H & Watt R (1996) Face detection in natural scenes. Perception, 25 (ECVP Abstract Supplement), pp. 44-44. http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=v96l1003

Article

Critical operations in low-level human vision

Watt R (1996) Critical operations in low-level human vision. International Journal of Imaging Systems and Technology, 7 (2), pp. 65-77. https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291098-1098%28199622%297%3A2%3C65%3A%3AAID-IMA1%3E3.0.CO%3B2-Q

Book Review

Language, music and mind by D Raffman

Watt R (1995) Language, music and mind by D Raffman. Review of: Language, music and mind, Diana Raffman, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1993, 169 pages. ISBN 978-0262181501. Perception, 24 (5), pp. 597-598. http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=p240595

Conference Abstract

Active texture processing

Watt R (1994) Active texture processing. Perception, 23 (ECVP Abstract Supplement), pp. 47-47. http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA338608

Conference Abstract

Discrimination of gaze direction

Snippe HP & Watt R (1994) Discrimination of gaze direction. Perception, 23 (ECVP Abstract Supplement), pp. 99-99. http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA338608

Book Chapter

A computational-theoretic account of human vision

Watt R (1994) A computational-theoretic account of human vision. In: Ishiguro T (ed.) Cognitive Processing for Vision & Voice: Proceedings of the Fourth NEC Research Symposium. Proceedings in Applied Mathematics Series, 71. Philadelphia, PA, USA: SIAM (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics), pp. 103-118.

Book Chapter

Computational analysis of early visual mechanisms

Watt R (1994) Computational analysis of early visual mechanisms. In: Spekreijse H, van Dijk B, Kalitzin S & Vijn P (eds.) Higher-Order Processing in the Visual System. Ciba Foundation Symposium, 184. Chichester: Ciba Foundation/ John Wiley and Sons, pp. 104-128. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470514610.ch14/summary

Conference Abstract

Why use oriented filters?

Watt R (1992) Why use oriented filters?. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 12 (1), p. 98. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-1313.1992.tb00259.x/abstract; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-1313.1992.tb00259.x

Book Review

Theories of visual perception by I. E. Gordon

Watt R (1991) Theories of visual perception by I. E. Gordon. Review of: Theories of Visual Perception, Ian E. Gordon, Chichester: Wiley, 1989, 273 pp. ISBN 0471921955. Perception, 20 (4), pp. 555-556.

Article

Seeing texture

Watt R (1991) Seeing texture. Current Biology, 1 (3), pp. 137-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/0960-9822%2891%2990211-E