| Abstract: | Proposes that (1) rivalry and stereopsis involve independent and parallel pathways through the early stages of visual processing, (2) rivalry occurs when visual stimuli are present, and (3) binocular perception is a simple combination (probably a weighted average) of the output of the pathways mediating stereopsis and rivalry. Evidence from previous research and from 2 experiments, involving a total of 12 Ss, indicates that (a) the pathways mediating stereopsis are separable from those mediating rivalry; (b) stereopsis and rivalry can coexist at the same point in space and time; (c) rivalry occurs inevitably, whenever visual stimuli are present, even if identical stimuli are presented to both eyes; and (d) stereopsis can be disrupted without disrupting rivalry and vice versa (termed double dissociation). It is concluded that the human visual system has evolved with 2 parallel pathways that between them extract the needed information from the input; binocular single vision arises from the outputs of these 2 pathways. (84 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
