Abstract
PURPOSE: Visual perceptual ambiguity takes numerous forms. In binocular rivalry, different images are presented to each eye, and the percept slowly fluctuates between percepts driven by the left and right eyes. Alternatively, a single image can have more than one stable interpretation (for example, a Necker cube). An open question is whether the mechanisms for disambiguation of these different types of bistable percepts operate independently (Grossmann and Dobbins, 2006) or not (Ouhnana, Jennings, and Kingdom, 2017). This study examined grouping of two color-rivalrous Necker cubes. If the cubes are both perceived the same color and orientation more often than chance, this indicates that integrated percepts from binocular color rivalry and Necker cube disambiguation are not independent for separate cubes. METHODS: Subjects reported color and orientation of a single cube displayed above or below fixation, and in separate trials reported when two cubes (one above and one below fixation) were both the same color and the same orientation. Total time that both cubes were seen the same color and the same orientation was compared to the independence prediction from upper-cube-alone and lower-cube-alone trials. RESULTS: The total time that both cubes were seen the same color and the same orientation was significantly greater than the independence prediction. CONCLUSIONS: Color-and-orientation percepts for two separate color-rivalrous Necker cubes are linked, not independent.
Supported by NIH EY-026618.