Signal-to-Noise Efficiency Explains Inter-Observer Variability in Orientation Discrimination

Background: Orientation discrimination tasks provide a core measure of visual sensitivity and are widely used to study how perceptual performance varies with stimulus uncertainty and visual field location. Here, we examined how external noise, retinal eccentricity, and individual perceptual efficiency shape orientation discrimination thresholds. Methods: Forty-two adults (mean age = 32.35 years, SD = 7.23) completed a two-alternative forced-choice task judging the orientation (clockwise vs. counterclockwise) of briefly presented Gabor patches under varying levels of external noise (low, medium, high) and eccentricity (0°, 5°, 10°). Orientation offsets ranged from −8° to +8°. Thresholds were estimated using psychometric functions and analyzed via rm ANOVA, linear mixed-effects models, and supervised machine learning. Results: Accuracy declined with increasing noise (ω2 = 0.48, p < 0.001) and improved with larger orientation offsets (ω2 = 0.62, p < 0.001). Thresholds increased with both noise (ω2 = 0.31, p = 0.002) and eccentricity (ω2 = 0.27, p = 0.003). Signal-to-noise efficiency was the strongest predictor (β = −0.72, p < 0.001); age alone was nonsignificant, but its interaction with eccentricity showed selective peripheral declines. Mixed-effects models confirmed spatial effects (β = 0.058, p < 0.001) and residual between-subject variability (σ2 = 0.14). Predictive models generalized well (R2 = 0.54). Conclusions: Orientation discrimination is shaped by both stimulus-level difficulty and individual differences in perceptual efficiency, which account for variability in sensitivity across visual conditions. Age-related differences emerge primarily under spatial load and depend on interactions between observer traits and task demands.