Visual Processing Of Repetitive Images

Visual detection of complex patterns consisting of repeated stripes of random texture was studied. Such patterns are of interest because they are environmentally relevant and because they have a relatively simple description in terms of the two-dimensional Fourier spectrum. Visibility of the patterns predicted from signal-detection analysis of the Fourier spectrum gave a good fit to the empirical data, supporting the use of Fourier analysis in the study of complex two-dimensional pattern perception.