Case study

Classic Studies That Are Never Outdated

| 4 min read

About Dr. Adrian Dyer

Dr. Adrian Dyer, Associate Professor at the School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Australia, and an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Department of Physiology, Monash University, Australia.

Dr. Adrian Dyer is an associate professor at the School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Australia, and a QEII Adjunct Research Fellow at the Department of Physiology, Monash University, Australia. A vision scientist and photographer, his work focuses on the investigation of how the representation of an image is created, and how it can be used to interpret the complex world in which we live. His research interests centre on understanding how visual systems learn difficult tasks perceptually. This work involves both using human psychophysics and imaging studies, as well as experimenting with the miniature brain of a bee which can form visual representations to make decisions in complex environments.

“A lot of work was done in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and because these were pre-computer days, people would build very precise experiments as they were too expensive to redo. Today, scientists may do the experiment again, but it is just for validation of the result.”

Dr. Adrian Dyer works in the field of Psychophysics – the study of perception examining the relations between observed stimuli and responses and the reasons for those relations1 – where a credible experiment, regardless of when it was done, will always be valid, and its result will influence current models and new experiments. Take renowned researcher David Navon’s article Forest before trees: The precedence of global features in visual perception published in 1977, for instance. It was one of the fundamental sources of reference Dr. Dyer used to develop the research he has recently published in the Proceedings of Royal Society. A classic study, Navon’s paper focused on the frontal cognitive process in the brain and showed how human perceived the world. “It was a vital piece of reference for my research on honey bees. We wouldn’t be able to do the study if we did not have access to Navon’s work,” explained Dr. Dyer.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

To Dr. Dyer, there is little doubt about the significance of older research; almost every pre-1995 paper is crucial because, in his field, a good experiment does not get outdated. “A lot of work was done in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and because these were pre-computer days, people would build very precise experiments as they were too expensive to redo. Today, scientists may do the experiment again, but it is just for validation of the result.” In fact, a significant 38% of Dr. Dyer’s citations in his articles published between 2010 and 2015 are to Pre-1995 publications, of which 37% are to Elsevier’s Pre-1995 content. This is because several of his current research requires him to refer to models and papers published prior to 1995.

For example, he needs to model a COC colour space which was published by Backhaus and reference the Stavenga et al. 1993 Vision Research study in his preparation for a manuscript on colour constancy perception in bees. Another study he is undertaking investigates perceptual thresholds, which led him to papers such as Neumeyer 1984, Wright 1972, and Romero et al. 1986.

Accessibility to Pre-1995 Published Work Changes the Dynamics of Research

As a published author, and an editor and reviewer for the Public Library of Science (PLOS), Dr. Dyer knows that any good journal reviewer would expect that important studies, regardless of the era, are discussed and interpreted in relations to the current result in any journal submissions. However, he noticed that some authors are not referencing older literature as much as they should because they do not have easy access to such resources.

It is, however, his practice to incorporate citations of all scientific literature into his reports to ensure that a well-rounded argument is presented. He reminisced about his post-doctorate years when scientific literature was not digitalised or easily accessible. During those days, he had to travel a long distance whenever he needed to obtain past issues of a journal. If he ordered a copy of the content, it would typically take at least a week to arrive.

Dr. Dyer finds that the availability of Pre-1995 content changes the dynamics of research. “Having easy access to older journals quickly improves quality as a lot of information can be sourced to solve a key issue in a larger project,” he stated. “Often, we don’t know which paper we need until we read a number, and having immediate access saves us time and money in making decisions.”