| Abstract: | Five experiments with the 1st author and 3 college students examined the duration of visible persistence in sequences of stimuli. In Exps I and II, the basic display consisted of a point that stepped around a circular path on the face of an oscilloscope. Ss estimated the number of points seen simultaneously. Results were compared with a control condition (Exp III), in which the points were plotted in random order rather than sequentially. Exp IV replicated Exps I and III at 4 additional eccentricities; Exp V examined whether reasonable fixation could be maintained with the larger displays and how a tendency to track the moving point would affect the number of points seen simultaneously. It was found that visible persistence of a point was suppressed if other points were shown nearby and after an appropriate delay. The degree of suppression depended on the spatial proximity of successive points. It was also found that both duration of visible persistence and degree of suppression increased with eccentricity in the visual field. Results are discussed in terms of 2 independent processes, persistence and suppression, that operate in a hierarchically antithetical relation. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
