[visionlist] Highly cited publications on vision in which authors were also subjects?

Thu May 28 17:09:13 -04 2020

Kohler I. (1962) Experiments with goggles. In: Held R, Richards W, ed. Perception: Mechanisms and Models. San Francisco: W H Freeman, 299-309.

Kohler I. (1964) The formation and transformation of the perceptual world. Psychol Issues. 3(4): 14-173.

My “favourite” study that involved the author as a subject is the original study in the demonstration that Helicobacter pylori was the cause of stomach ulcers by Barry Marshall (he and Robin Warren were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work).  The story is described in this review paper:

Ahmed N (2005) 23 years of the discovery of Helicobacter pylori: Is the debate over?  Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob. 2005; 4: 17.  doi: 10.1186/1476-0711-4-17

Barry Marshall drank a cocktail from a patient’s stomach and promptly got a stomach ulcer.  Ethically, they had determined that they could not ask anyone else to participate in that study.

Marshall BJ, Armstrong JA, McGechie DB, Glancy RJ. Attempt to fulfill Koch's postulates for pyloric campylobacter. Medical J Australia. 1985;142:436–439.

Not quite in our line of business, but a great story.

best wishes, stay safe and healthy, and don’t try this at home,

Russell

> On 28 May, 2020, at 09:55, Mitch Brigell <mbrigell at aerpio.com> wrote:
>
>         External Email - Use Caution
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>
> In the sensory-motor literature, perhaps the most famous author subject studies were the Innsbruck Goggle Experiments performed by Theodor Erismann and his student Ivo Kohler. They adapted to wearing inverting prisms for weeks on end. Most frighteningly, after removing the goggles the normal world appeared inverted for a few days I believe. Most of the original publications are in German, but Kohler published a review in Scientific American in 1962.
>
> From: visionlist <visionlist-bounces at visionscience.com> On Behalf Of William K. Stell
> Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2020 2:14 PM
> To: Robert Hess, Dr. <robert.hess at mcgill.ca>; gabrieljacobdiaz at gmail.com; visionlist at visionscience.com
> Subject: Re: [visionlist] Highly cited publications on vision in which authors were also subjects?
>
> Yes - a HUGE YES - to John Robson, whose paper with Fergus Campbell on contrast sensitivity (1968 JPhysiol, 197:551-566) - "The authors acted as subjects" - is one of my all-time favourites.
>
> Many thanks, John.
>
> Bill
> --
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> William K. Stell, PhD, MD
> Professor, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy
>  and Department of Surgery
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> From: visionlist <visionlist-bounces at visionscience.com> on behalf of Robert Hess, Dr. <robert.hess at mcgill.ca>
> Sent: May 27, 2020 10:53 AM
> To: gabrieljacobdiaz at gmail.com <gabrieljacobdiaz at gmail.com>; visionlist at visionscience.com<visionlist at visionscience.com>
> Subject: Re: [visionlist] Highly cited publications on vision in which authors were also subjects?
>
> [△EXTERNAL]
>
>
>
> Hi Gabriel,
>
> I concur with John. In my lab you can’t get away with not being a subject in your own psychophysical experiment, for the simple reason that you need to know what artefacts to control, naive subjects won’t tell you this interesting information. I am a subject in almost all of my normal psychophysics and imaging.
>
> Best,
>
> Robert
>
>
> On May 27, 2020, at 11:47 AM, John Robson <jgr11 at cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> Gabriel,
>
> I believe that both Fergus Campbell and I developed quite a reputation for asking authors of drafts of psychophysical papers about the subjective experience of being an experimental subject. We both always felt that the design of experiments should take into account what it was like to be a subject and it was always desirable for authors to be among the subjects. You will find that all the most cited psychophysical papers of both Campbell and myself rely heavily (if not exclusively) on reports of observations made by their authors.
>
> John Robson
>
> On May 27 2020, Gabriel Diaz wrote:
>
>
> Dear vision community,
>
> In response to a recent proposal to my IRB, I have received a request to
> provide examples of manuscripts in which the PI is also the subject in the
> manuscript.  I am hoping that some of you may be able to help me track some
> down. The more impactful the better, whether that be indicated by citation
> count, recognition of the publication venue, or any other metric, as long
> as it will be evident to a non-expert.
>
> Extra points if the study involves some element of motor behavior /
> perception & action.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> - gD
>
>
> --
> Professor John Robson  ScD FRS
> Senior Research Professor in Vision Science
> University of Houston College of Optometry, Houston,  TX 77204-2020
> +1 (713) 743 1807
> and
> Fellow, Gonville & Caius College, Trinity St., Cambridge, CB2 1TA
> and
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