Dr David Souto

I got my PhD from the University of Geneva in 2009. After a postdoc at the UCL and back in Geneva I took a Lectureship in the University of Leicester in 2013. I investigate mechanisms of dynamic vision by using psychophysical methods and eye-tracking. More precisely, I am interested in how humans perceive motion and how they select task-relevant information while moving their eyes. Recently I have explored more applied aspects of dynamic vision, such as involved in human-computer interaction to aid assistive communication (with Simon Judge, Barnsley Hospital Assistive Technology Team in Sheffield, and Tom Griffiths, School of Computing, University of Dundee) and how pedestrians perceive and sample the visual information that is relevant to crossing the road safely (Jennifer Sudkamp's thesis). Major academic include leadership of the Vision Sciences Research Group and the promotion of Open Science. My research has been supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and the British Academy at different career stages.

This is a list of recent outputs. Find all papers on ResearchGate or here davidsouto.github.io/wp/. 

Morita, V. C., Souto, D., Masson, G. S., & Montagnini, A. (2025). Anticipatory smooth pursuit eye movements scale with the probability of visual motion: The role of target speed and acceleration. Journal of Vision, 25(1), 2-2. https://doi.org/10.1167/jov.25.1.2 [Open Access]

Griffiths, T., Judge, S., & Souto, D. (2024). Use of eye-gaze technology feedback by assistive technology professionals: findings from a thematic analysis. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 1-18.. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2024.2338125 [pdf]

Tipura, E., Souto, D., & Fox, E. (2024). Trait-Anxious People Take Longer to Search for Happy Faces in the Presence of Neutral and Fearful Distractors. Trends in Psychology, 32(2), 572-588. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43076-023-00305-8

Souto, D.,  Sudkamp, J., Nacilla, K., & Bocian, M. (2023). Tuning in to a hip-hop beat: Pursuit eye movements reveal processing of biological motion. Human Movement Science, 91 (103126), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2023.103126

Bruno, A., Sudkamp, J., & Souto, D. (2023). A metacognitive approach to the study of motion-induced duration biases reveals inter-individual differences in forming confidence judgments. Journal of Vision, 23(3), 15-15. https://doi.org/10.1167/jov.23.3.15 [Open Access]

Sudkamp, J., Souto, D. (2023). The effect of contrast on pedestrians’ perception of vehicle speed in different road environments. Transportation Research Part F Traffic Psychology and Behaviour 92:15-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2022.10.017 [post-print]

Barrett, D.J.K. , Souto D., Pilling, M., Baguley, M. D. (2022). An Exploratory Investigation of Pupillometry As a Measure of Tinnitus Intrusiveness on a Test of Auditory Short-Term Memory. Ear and Hearing, https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001214

Sudkamp, J., Bocian, , D., & Souto, D. (2021). The role of eye movements in perceiving vehicle speed and time-to-arrival at the roadside. Scientific Reports, 11 (23312). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02412-x

Souto, D., & Kerzel, D. (2021). Visual selective attention and the control of tracking eye movements: A critical review. Journal of Neurophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00145.2019

Souto, D., Marsh, O., Hutchinson, C., Judge, S., & Paterson, K. (2021). Cognitive plasticity induced by gaze-control technology: Gaze-typing improves performance in the antisaccade task. Computers in Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106831

Luna R, Serrano-Pedraza, I., Gegenfurtner, K. R., Schütz, A. C., & Souto, D. (2021). Achieving visual stability during smooth pursuit eye movements: Directional and confidence judgements favor a recalibration model. Vision Research, 184, 58-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2021.03.003

Souto D., & Schütz, A. C. (2020). Task-relevance is causal in eye movement learning and adaptation. In Federmeier, K., & Schotter, E. (Eds.). Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Volume 73. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.plm.2020.06.002

Souto, D., Smith, L., Sudkamp, J., & Bloj, M. (2020). Ambiguity in high definition: Gaze determines physical interpretation of ambiguous rotation even in the absence of a visual context. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 27, 1239-1246.

Souto, D., Chudasama, J., Kerzel, D., & Johnston, A. (2019). Motion integration is anisotropic during smooth pursuit eye movements. Journal of Neurophysiology, 121(5), 1787-1797

Souto, D., Born, S., & Kerzel, D. (2018). The contribution of forward masking to saccadic inhibition of return. Attention, Perception and Psychophysics

Souto, D., Gegenfurtner, K. R., Schütz, A. C. (2016). Saccade adaptation and visual uncertainty. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10:3387, doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00227

Schütz, A. C., Souto, D. (2015). Perceptual task induces saccadic adaptation by target selection. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9:566. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00566

Souto, D., & Kerzel, D. (2014). Ocular tracking responses to background motion gated by feature-based attention. Journal of Neurophysiology , 112 (5) 1074-1081; doi:10.1152/jn.00810.2013