Wa James Tam | PubMed Health

PubMed2005

Localization of monocular stimuli in different depth planes.

We examined the phenomenon in which two physically aligned monocular stimuli appear to be non-collinear when each of them is located in binocular regions that are at different depth planes. Using monocular bars embedded in binocular random-dot areas that are at different depths, we manipulated properties of the binocular areas and examined their effect on the perceived direction and depth of the monocular stimuli. Results showed that (1) the relative visual direction and perceived depth of the monocular bars depended on the binocular disparity and the dot density of the binocular areas, and (2) the visual direction, but not the depth, depended on the width of the binocular regions. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that monocular stimuli are treated by the visual system as binocular stimuli that have acquired the properties of their binocular surrounds. Moreover, partial correlation analysis suggests that the visual system utilizes both the disparity information of the binocular areas and the perceived depth of the monocular bars in determining the relative visual direction of the bars.

Depth Perception↗

PubMed2002

Stereoillusory motion concomitant with lateral head movements.

Stationary objects in a stereogram can appear to move when viewed with lateral head movements. This illusory motion can be explained by the motion-distance invariance hypothesis, which states that illusory motion covaries with perceived depth in accordance with the geometric relationship between the position of the stereo stimuli and the head. We examined two predictions based on the hypothesis. In Experiment 1, illusory motion was studied while varying the magnitude of binocular disparity and the magnitude of lateral head movement, holding viewing distance constant. In Experiment 2, illusory motion was studied while varying binocular disparity and viewing distance, holding magnitude of head movement constant. Ancillary measures of perceived depth, perceived viewing distance, and perceived magnitude of lateral head movement were also obtained. The results from the two experiments show that the extent of illusory motion varies as a function of perceived depth, supporting the motion-distance invariance hypothesis. The results also show that the extent of illusory motion is close to that predicted from the geometry in crossed disparity conditions, whereas it is greater than the predicted motion in uncrossed disparity conditions. Furthermore, predictions based on perceptual variables were no more accurate than predictions based on geometry.

Adult↗