Perception of stabilized retinal stimuli in dichoptic viewing conditions.

Perception of stabilized retinal stimuli was studied both in monocular and dichoptic viewing conditions. When identical stabilized stimuli of large size and high luminance were presented to both eyes, the phenomena characteristic of monocular perception (rapid fading of perceived images within a few seconds or their episodic disappearance and regeneration) failed to be observed: the visual images were perceived as decaying only gradually and slowly within several minutes. The results suggest that rapid changes and fluctuations of visual images perceived monocularly may be due to the effects of binocular interaction (cooperation/rivalry), episodic darkenings of the visual field seeming to be caused by temporary predominance of the occluded eye.