The Effects of Motion on Binocular Rivalry between Simple and Complex Images

The term binocular rivalry refers the perceptual alternations that occur when a different image is presented to each eye. There is an ongoing debate as to whether competition between two eyes or the two perceptual interpretations instigate this bistability. The thesis investigated theses mechanisms by comparing the effects of continuous stimulus movement on simple checkerboard and complex face/house pairs of rival stimuli. Data was collected from a sample of 7 male and 18 female participants. As predicted, motion increased perceptual dominance durations, spatial coherence and suppression depth during rivalry between simple stimuli, yet not during rivalry between complex stimuli. It was concluded that mechanisms underlying binocular rivalry act upon the level at which stimuli are represented in the visual system.