Abstract
Experimental investigation of anisotropic limits of human visual perception (HVP) with short time (5–100 ms) presentation of size-changing objects — increased (A) and decreased (B) in size — showed that usually they are represented as a flashing movement of objects' images, because perceptual system is working at the limits of its functional possibilities. High-contrast outline drawings of polygons were presented on a tachistoscope and changed size at 10–30 deg/s. Tasks included an object's type identification and size comparison. Objects were seen with different clearness and line thickness depending on speed and direction of change and other conditions. Using developed model of multilevel discrete time stage organization of the form creation process (FCP) and general principles of transcendental psychology methodology (Mirakyan, 1999, Outlines of Transcendental Psychology, Moscow, IP RAS) we supposed, that presentation within the same time limited conditions of complex objects (CO) with rapidly changing A, B and stable (not changing) parts will lead to an improvement of visual representation. Further experiments proved that CO parts are represented simultaneously in low contrast thin lines and this vision is achieved with higher size-changing rates. In line with the aforesaid model, presentation of CO results in object-determined synchronization of FCP by stable object's parts and observed transition to the lower level of vision of FCP prior to its termination. For stable objects, when FCP has enough time for termination, high-contrast object's form is seen in thick lines, while for moving objects — unfinished FCP is observed as a movement of object's image (Panov, 1998 Voprosy Psychologii 2 82–107). Thus, experimental results denote at least two levels of perceptual representation of HVP dynamics and disclose the phenomenon of object-determined synchronization of FCPs in time limited conditions.