Barbara Anne Dosher
Biography
Barbara Anne Dosher, Ph.D., is UCI Distinguished Professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. She served as Dean of the School of Social Sciences from 2002 to 2013 and as Chair of the Department of Cognitive Sciences from 2000 to 2002. Dosher received a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Oregon in 1977.
Dosher's research focuses on visual perception, attention, and perceptual learning. She has developed computational models to characterize how observers improve visual discrimination through practice and how attention modulates visual processing. Her work with collaborator Zhong-Lin Lu has produced influential theories including the perceptual template model of attention and the augmented Hebbian reweighting model of perceptual learning. She has authored two books with Lu: "Visual Psychophysics: From Laboratory to Theory" (2013) and "Perceptual Learning: How experience shapes visual perception" (2020).
Dosher is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (2011) and a Fellow of the American Psychological Society (2006) and the Society for Experimental Psychologists (1996). She received the Atkinson Prize in Psychological and Cognitive Sciences from the National Academy of Sciences (2018), the Howard Crosby Warren Medal from the Society for Experimental Psychologists (2013), and the Davida Teller Award from the Vision Sciences Society (2019). She served as President of the Society for Mathematical Psychology in 1988 and on the Executive Board of the Vision Sciences Society from 2009 to 2013.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, University of Oregon, 1977
- M.A. in Experimental Psychology, University of Oregon, 1975
- B.A. in Psychology, University of California, San Diego, 1973
Distinctions
- Atkinson Prize in Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, 2018
- Elected Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, 2011
- Davida Teller Award, Vision Sciences Society, 2019
- Senior Fellow Award, Society for Mathematical Psychology, 2025
- Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society for Experimental Psychologists, 2013
- Elected Fellow, American Psychological Society, 2006
- Distinguished Research Award, UC Irvine Academic Senate, 2013
- Elected Fellow, Society for Experimental Psychologists, 1996
- Lauds and Laurels Faculty Achievement Award, 2013
Areas of Expertise
- Visual Perception
- Perceptual Learning Mechanisms
- Spatial Attention Models
- External Noise Exclusion
- Hierarchical Bayesian Modeling
- Template Reweighting Theory
- Memory Retrieval Dynamics
Recent Publications
- Pizlo Z., Wang J.Z., Dosher B., Steinman R.M., “Current status of mathematical foundations of the Gestalt concepts in psychophysics” (opens in new tab), Journal of Vision, vol. 26, pp. 1-16, 2026.
- Lu, Z.-L., Yang, S., Dosher, B., “Hierarchical Bayesian augmented Hebbian reweighting model of perceptual learning” (opens in new tab), Journal of Vision, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 1-23, 2025.
- Liu, J., Lu, Z.-L., Dosher, B., “Transfer of visual perceptual learning over a task-irrelevant feature through feature invariant representations: behavioral experiments and model simulations” (opens in new tab), Journal of Vision, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 1-24, 2024.
- Zhao, Y., Liu, J., Dosher, B., Lu, Z.-L., “Estimating the trial-by-trial learning curve in perceptual learning with hierarchical Bayesian modeling” (opens in new tab), Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 2024.
- Zhao, Y., Liu, J., Dosher, B., Lu, Z.-L., “Enabling identification of component processes in perceptual learning with non-parametric hierarchical Bayesian modeling” (opens in new tab), Journal of Vision, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 1-22, 2024.
- Liu, J., Lu, Z.-L., Dosher, B., “Informational feedback accelerates learning in multi-alternative perceptual judgments of orientation” (opens in new tab), Vision Research, vol. 213, pp. 108318, 2023.
- Dosher, B., Liu, J., Lu, Z.-L., “Learning spatial frequency identification through reweighted decoding” (opens in new tab), Journal of Vision, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 1-31, 2023.
- Lu, Z., Dosher, B., “Hierarchical Bayesian perceptual template modeling of mechanisms of spatial attention in central and peripheral cuing” (opens in new tab), Journal of Vision, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 1-19, 2023.
- Seitz, A.R., Sekuler, A., Dosher, B., “Perceptual learning: Policy insights from basic research to real-world applications” (opens in new tab), Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 324-332, 2023.
- Lu, Z.L., Dosher, B., “Current directions in visual perceptual learning” (opens in new tab), Nature Reviews Psychology, vol. 1, pp. 1-15, 2022.
- Baek, J., Dosher, B., Lu, Z.-L., “Visual attention in spatial cueing and visual search” (opens in new tab), Journal of Vision, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 1-24, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- E. Kowler, E. Anderson, B. Dosher, E. Blaser, “The role of attentional shifts in the programming of saccades” (opens in new tab), Vision Research, vol. 35, pp. 1897-1916, 1995.
- L-L. Lu, B. Dosher, “External noise distinguishes attention mechanisms” (opens in new tab), Vision Research, vol. 38, pp. 1172-1198, 1998.
- B. Dosher, Z.-L. Lu, “Perceptual learning reflects external noise filtering and internal noise reduction through channel reweighting” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 95, pp. 13988-13993, 1998.
- J.E. Russo, B.A. Dosher, “Strategies for multiattribute binary choice” (opens in new tab), Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, vol. 9, pp. 676-696, 1983.
- B.M. McElree, B.A. Dosher, “Serial position and set size in short term memory: Time course of recognition” (opens in new tab), Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 118, pp. 346-373, 1989.
- Dosher, B., Lu, Z.-L., “Mechanisms of perceptual learning” (opens in new tab), Vision Research, vol. 39, pp. 3197-3221, 1999.
- Petrov, A. A., Dosher, B., Lu, Z., “The dynamics of perceptual learning: An incremental channel reweighting” (opens in new tab), Psychological Review, vol. 112, pp. 715-743, 2005.
- Dosher, B., Lu, Z.-L., “Noise exclusion in spatial cuing of attention” (opens in new tab), Psychological Science, vol. 11, pp. 139-146, 2000.
- Lu, Z.-L., Dosher, B., “Characterizing observers using external noise and observer models” (opens in new tab), Psychological Review, vol. 115, pp. 44-82, 2008.
- Dosher, B., Lu, Z.-L., “Mechanisms of perceptual attention in multi-location cueing” (opens in new tab), Vision Research, vol. 40, pp. 1269-1292, 2000.
Contact Information
Email: bdosher@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-7373
Address: 2564 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway
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Last updated on 4/24/2026.