Frequency and phase contributions to the detection of temporal luminance modulation

Observers detected a temporally modulated luminance pattern embedded in dynamic noise. A Gabor function with a carrier frequency, in separate conditions of 0, 1.56, or 3.12 Hz, modulated signal contrast. Classification images were constructed in the time, temporal frequency, and temporal phase domains. As stimulus frequency increased, amplitudes of the phase images decreased and amplitudes of the frequency images increased, indicating a corresponding shift in the observers' criteria. The reduced use of phase attenuated time-domain images from signal-absent trials, but physical interactions between signal and noise components tended to preserve time-domain images from signal-present trials. The results illustrate a frequency-dependent strategy shift in detection that may reflect a degree of stimulus uncertainty in the time domain.