Anisotropy in visual temporal integration and segregation

Abstract

The temporal integration of sequential perceptual information has been examined in previous studies using the concept of visual persistence. For example, Di Lollo (1977) clarified the temporal characteristics of the integration of two different images using the missing dot task paradigm. While the characteristics of visual persistence have been thought to be constant for any figure, some previous studies have reported differences depending on the orientation of the line (Bowling & Lovegrove, 1981). In this study, we investigated whether the visual persistence process is different in the case of vertical and horizontal lines. In the experiment, we used an integration task, in which the absence of a figure is perceived only when two consecutively presented images are integrated, and a separation task, in which the features of a figure are perceived when two consecutively presented images are separated (Wutz, Muschter, van Koningsbruggen, Weisz, & Melcher, 2016). The results showed that the performance of the subjects in the case of vertical lines was significantly lower in the integration task, but significantly higher in the segregation task. These results suggest that the visual persistence of the vertical line is shorter than that of the horizontal line.