Professor Nick Scott-Samuel
Research
My research was initially concerned with the visual perception of motion by humans, but I?ve become sidetracked over time by various other things, including the perception of food and drink, camouflage, visual search and the estimation of numerosity.
Biography
After degrees in Philosophy (BA) at the University of Bristol and Cognitive Science (MSc) at the University of Birmingham, my PhD (supervised by Mark Georgeson at the University of Birmingham) addressed human visual motion processing. I was a postdoc for four years, working first with Andy Smith (at Royal Holloway, University of London) and then with Robert Hess (at McGill University). I was appointed Lecturer in Psychology here in 2001.
Publications
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Fennell, J. G., Talas, L., Baddeley, R. J., Cuthill, I. C., Scott-Samuel, N. E. 2020. The Camouflage Machine: Optimising protective colouration using deep learning with genetic algorithms. bioRxiv, 903484.
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Talas, L., Fennell, J. G., Kjernsmo, K., Cuthill, I. C., Scott-Samuel, N. E., Baddeley, R. J. In Press. CamoGAN: Evolving optimum camouflage with Generative Adversarial Networks. Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
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Cuthill, I. C., Matchette, S. R. & Scott-Samuel, N. E. 2019. Camouflage in a dynamic world. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 30, 109-115.
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Matchette, S. R., Cuthill, I. C. & Scott-Samuel, N. E. 2019. Dappled light disrupts prey detection by masking movement. Animal Behaviour, 155, 89-95.
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Fennell, J. G., Talas, L., Baddeley, R. J., Cuthill, I. C., Scott-Samuel, N. E. Optimising colour for camouflage and visibility using deep learning: the effects of the environment and the observer’s visual system. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 16, 20190183.
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Kjernsmo K, Hall JR, Doyle C, Khuzayim N, Cuthill IC, Scott-Samuel NE, Whitney HM. 2018. Iridescence impairs object recognition in bumblebees. Scientific Reports 8: 8095.
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Matchette, S. R., Cuthill, I. C. & Scott-Samuel, N. E. 2018. Concealment in a dynamic world: dappled light and caustics mask movement. Animal Behaviour, 143, 51-57.
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Barnett, J. B., Michalis, C., Scott-Samuel, N. E., & Cuthill, I. C. 2018. Distance-dependent defensive coloration in the poison frog Dendrobates tinctorius, Dendrobatidae. PNAS, 201800826.
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Merilaita, S., Scott-Samuel, N. E. & Cuthill, I. C. 2017. How camouflage works. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 372(1724), 20160341.
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Temple, S. E., McGregor, J. E., Miles, C., Graham, L., Miller, J., Buck, J., Scott-Samuel N. E. & Roberts, N. W. 2015. Perceiving polarization with the naked eye: characterization of human polarization sensitivity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 282, 20150338.
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Hogan, B.G., Cuthill, I.C. & Scott-Samuel, N.E. 2017. Dazzle camouflage and the confusion effect: the influence of varying speed on target tracking. Animal Behaviour, 123, 349-353.
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Hogan, B.G., Hildenbrandt, H., Scott-Samuel, N.E., Cuthill, I.C., Hemelrijk, C.K. 2017. The confusion effect when attacking simulated three-dimensional starling flocks. Royal Society Open Science, 4, 160564.
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Hall, J. R, Cuthill, I. C., Roland Baddeley, Angela S. Attwood, Marcus R. Munafò, Nicholas E. Scott-Samuel 2016. Dynamic dazzle distorts speed perception. PLoS ONE, 11(5), e0155162.
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Barnett, J. B., Scott-Samuel, N. E. & Cuthill, I. C. 2016. Aposematism: balancing salience and camouflage. Biology Letters, 12, 20160335.
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Barnett, J. B., Redfern, A. S., Bhattacharyya-Dickson, R., Clifton, O., Courty, T., Ho, T., Hopes, A., McPhee, T., Merrison, K., Owen, R., Scott-Samuel, N. E. & Cuthill, I. C. 2016. Stripes for warning and stripes for hiding: spatial frequency and detection distance. Behavioral Ecology, 10.1093/beheco/arw168.
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Hogan, B.G., Cuthill, I.C. & Scott-Samuel, N.E. 2016. Dazzle camouflage, target tracking, and the confusion effect. Behavioral Ecology, 27, 1547-1551.
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Hogan, B.G., Scott-Samuel, N.E. & Cuthill, I.C. 2016. Contrast, contours and the confusion effect in dazzle camouflage. Royal Society Open Science, 3, 160180.
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Scott-Samuel, N. E., Holmes, G., Baddeley, R. & Cuthill, I. C. 2015. Moving in groups: how density and unpredictable motion affect predation risk. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 69(6), 867-872.
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Allen, W. L., Baddeley, R. J., Scott-Samuel, N. E. & Cuthill, I. C. 2013. The evolution and function of pattern diversity in snakes. Behavioural Ecology, 24(5), pp. 1237-1250.
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Hall, J. R., Cuthill, I. C., Baddeley, R. J., Shohet, A. J. & Scott-Samuel, N. E. 2013. Camouflage, detection and identification of moving targets. Proceedings of the Royal Society B – Biological Sciences, 280(1758), pp. 1-7.
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Allen, W. L., Baddeley, R. J., Cuthill, I. C. & Scott-Samuel, N. E. 2012. A quantitative test of the predicted relationship between countershading and lighting environment. The American Naturalist, 180(6), pp. 762-776.
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Scott-Samuel, N. E., Baddeley, R. J., Palmer, C. E. & Cuthill, I. C. 2011. Dazzle camouflage affects speed perception. PLoS ONE, 6(6), e20233.
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Allen, W. L., Cuthill, I. C., Scott-Samuel, N. E. & Baddeley, R. J. 2011. Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids. Proceedings of the Royal Society B – Biological Sciences, 278(1710), pp. 1373-1380.