Billy R Wooten
Billy R Wooten
Professor Emeritus of Psychology
Overview
Dr. Wooten received his PhD in Psychology from Brown University in 1970. His postdoctoral training was
as a Research Fellow at Harvard in the Department of Biology from 1970-72 and the Department of Ophthalmology
in 1972. He came to Brown in 1973 and has been Professor of Psychology since 1985. He served as Chair of the
Psychology Department from 1994-99.
Brown Affiliations
Research Areas
Research
Research Overview
Research Statement
The retinal image is determined not only by the physical stimulus, but also by the properties of the eye. Research in my laboratory, using psychophysical techniques, has examined such optical properties of the eye as intra-ocular scatter, lens absorption, and macular pigmentation.
Achromatic Perception
The lightness, or gray tone of an achromatic stimulus, is influenced by many factors in addition to simple reflectance. My research group has studied a number of factors in order to assess how they affect lightness: illumination level, adaptation state, retinal disparity, and contour complexity.
Color Vision
Besides wavelength, many factors determine a stimulus' color. We have explored how color appearance is affected by luminance level, chromatic adaptation, spatial contrast, and temporal factors. We have also conducted experiments in the areas of color blindness, peripheral vision, and the relation between language and hue.
Funded Research
National Eye Institute, 1977-80 (Co-Principal Investigator with L.A. Riggs).
National Eye Institute, 1978-81.
National Science Foundation, Macular Pigment: Relationship to Acuity and Visibility, $127,000, 2004-present.
Two grant applications are currently under review:
one to the National Eye Institute
one to the National Science Foundation
Scholarly Work
Hammond, B.R., Wooten,. B.R. and Smollon, W. (2006). Assessment of the validity of in vivo methods of measuring human macular pigment optical density: Response to Gellerman and Bernstein. Optometry and Vision Science. 83 (4), 256-259.
Hammond, B.R., Wooten, B.R. and Smollon, B. (2005). Assessment of the Validity of in Vivo Methods of Measuring Human Macular Pigment Optical Density. Optometry and Vision Science, 82(5), 387-404.
Wooten, B.R., Hammond, B.R. and Smollon, B. (2005). Assessment of the validity of heterochromatic flicker photometry for measuring macular pigment optical density in normal subjects. Optometry and Vision Science. 82 (5), 378-386.
Hammond, B.R., and Wooten, B.R. (2005) Resonance Raman spectroscopic measurement of carotenoids in the skin and retina. Journal of Biomedical Optics. 10(5), 054002-054014.
Hammond, B.R. and Wooten, B.R. (2004). Validity issues with the in vivo measurement of skin carotenoids using Raman spectroscopy. Investigative Dermatology, 122, 544-546.
Hammond, B.R., and Wooten, B.R. (2003). Noninvasive assessment of the macular carotenoids. In Ciulla, T.A., Regillo, C.D. and Harris A. (Eds.). Retina and Optic Nerve Imaging. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, Delaware, 231-43.
Wooten, B.R. and Hammond, B.R. (2002). Macular Pigment: Influences on visual acuity and visibility. Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, 21, 225-240.
Hammond, B.R., Wooten, B.R. and Curran-Celentano. (2001). Carotenoids in the retina and lens: Possible acute and chronic effects on human visual performance. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 385, 41-46.
Wooten,B.R., Hammond, B.R., Land, R.L., and Snodderly, D.M. (1999). A Practical Method for Measuring Macular Pigment Optical Density. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., 40, 2481-2489.
Hammond, B.R., Wooten, B.R. and Snodderly, D.M. (1998). Preservation of visual sensitivity of older subjects: association with macular pigment density Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., 39, 397-406.
Hammond, B.R., Wooten, B.R. and Snodderly, D.M. (1997). Individual variations in the spatial profile of human macular pigment. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 14(6), 1187-1196.
Hammond, B.R., Wooten, B.R. and Snodderly, D.M. (1997). Density of the human crystalline lens is related to the macular pigment carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin. Optometry and Vision Science, 74(7), 1-6.
Hammond, B.R., Curran-Celentano, J., Judd, S. Fuld, K., Krinsky, N.I., Wooten, B.R., and Snodderly, D.M. (1996). Sex differences in macular pigment optical density: relation to plasma carotenoid concentrations and dietary patterns. Vision Research, 36(13), 2001-2012.
Dalby, T.A., Saillant, M.L., and Wooten, B.R. (1995). The relation of lightness and stereoscopic depth in a simple viewing situation. Perception and Psychophysics, 57, 318-332.
Background
Education and Training
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | PhD | Brown University |
| 1968 | MS | Brown University |
| 1965 | BS | University of Washington |
Honors and Awards
Post-doctoral Fellowships, National Science Foundation, 1970-71.
Foreign Exchange Fellowship, Deutscher Akademischer Ausauschdientist, 1973.
Senior U.S. Scientist Award, 1981-82; Humboldt Foundation, West Germany.
Fellow of the Optical Society of America, elected 1985.
Summer Faculty Research Fellowship, U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, 1985.
Awarded a Faculty Research Fellowship by U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Served at the Human Resources Laboratory Williams Air Force Base (February, 1986).
Awarded a Faculty Research Fellowship by U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, November, 1986.
Nominated by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, Fulbright Program for a Lectureship (January 1987). (Withdrawn due to civil war in Sri Lanka).
Nominated as a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Science, 1992.
Affiliations
Affiliations
Optical Society of America,
International Commission on Illumination
Teaching
Teaching Overview
Elementary Psychology: An Introduction to Mind and Behavior (PY001) is a
survey covering the roles of inherited and environmental determinants of human behavior.
Topics include sensation, perception, learning, memory, motivation, emotion, neural processes,
language, social development, personality assessment, obedience, interpersonal attraction,
and the diagnosis, origins, and treatment of mental illness. Laboratory sections illustrate
methodologies used to study these issues. PY001 is a prerequisite for many other courses in Psychology.
Perception (PY027) covers both the experimental and theoretical literature dealing with all aspects of the
perceptual process. Specific topics include the perception of color, form, motion, and depth.
Demonstrations are used to illustrate phenomena.