Model-optimized stimulus distortions for adaptive estimation of individual sensory representations

Representations of the same physical stimulus vary between individuals. Characterizing individual differences has practical implications, but is challenging because these representations are not directly observable. Given a model of how representations vary within a population, we propose a Bayesian adaptive procedure for estimating an individual observer’s representation from a series of targeted perceptual discrimination judgments. A key component of our approach is using Fisher information to identify stimulus distortions that efficiently differentiate observers in the population. As a proof of concept, we focus on individual differences in color perception and simulate observers with cone fundamentals drawn from an individual colorimetric observer model. We demonstrate that our approach can recover key aspects of a sampled observer’s cone fundamentals using simulated three-alternative forced-choice oddity judgments with approximately 500 trials, corresponding to an experimental duration of approximately one hour. Our Bayesian adaptive framework provides a promising and generalizable approach to efficiently link behavioral measurements to individual differences in sensory representations.