Cite as:
Stuit S M, van der Smagt M J, Verstraten F A J, Paffen C L E, 2010, "Suppressed images affect the dominant percept during binocular rivalry" Perception 39 ECVP Abstract Supplement, page 124

Suppressed images affect the dominant percept during binocular rivalry

S M Stuit, M J van der Smagt, F A J Verstraten, C L E Paffen

Dichoptically presented incompatible images result in alternating percepts; a phenomenon known as binocular rivalry. Recent evidence indicates that the level of suppression during rivalry specifically depends on features that induce the interocular conflict. For example, probes in the suppressed image with orientations similar to those in the dominant image are harder to detect than probes that deviate. Here, we test whether the converse is manifest during perceptual dominance, ie whether the orientation of a suppressed image affects the percept of a probe in the dominant image. We measured contrast thresholds for a grating probe in a 2AFC orientation-discrimination task performed during rivalry between pixel noise and a grating. The probes, oriented 5 degrees clockwise or counter clockwise from vertical, were superimposed on the noise image when it was dominant. The orientation of the suppressed grating was varied systematically with respect to probe orientation. Probe-orientation discrimination in the dominant image was affected more by suppressed stimuli of like orientation (up to 30 degrees deviation). These results imply that (1) during binocular rivalry, the suppressed image affects perception of the dominant image, and (2) perception of a dominant image during binocular rivalry differs from perception of that same image during monocular viewing.

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