Abstract
When two objects are flashed at one location in close temporal proximity in the visual periphery, an intriguing illusion occurs whereby a single flash presented concurrently at another location appears to flash twice (the visual double-flash illusion (Chatterjee et al, 2011; Wilson and Singer, 1981). Here we use, for the first time, a two-interval forced-choice method to investigate objectively the temporal limits of the effect, which have not previously been explored. We found the effect was maximal at the shortest separation of 20 ms between the two inducing flashes, and decreased approximately linearly after durations of around 100 ms, controlling for task performance without the inducing flashes. The illusion persisted with more complex objects such as Gabors or even faces. If the second inducing flash differed from the first in orientation or size, the effect was abolished. Playing concurrent brief tones with the flashes also abolished the illusion. We discuss the results in terms of rapid early connections and feedback in visual cortex.
| Original language | English |
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| Pages (from-to) | 46pp |
| Journal | The visual double-flash illusion: temporal, spatial and corssmodal constraints |
| Publication status | Published - 2011 |
| Event | 34th European Conference of Visual Perception - France, France Duration: 1 Jan 2011 → … |