The relationship between numerosity and the Fourier power spectrum of dot arrays
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: This technical note presents mathematical derivations that establish the relationship between numerosity and the Fourier power spectrum of dot arrays, a standard stimulus in biological and psychological research in numerosity perception (e.g., DeWind et al. (2015); Park and Huber (2022). We derive a closed-form solution for the radially averaged power spectrum of images depicting arrays of identical dots as a function of dot number, radius, spacing, and spatial frequency. We also demonstrate that an unconventional distillation of the Fourier coefficients, as done in Paul et al. (2022), reveals an artifactual relationship between that metric and numerosity.
Source: PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints)
Authors: Joonkoo Park, Shimin Hu, Ruoyu Yuan
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214203905