This research is concerned with the three major phenomena of binocular vision--stereopsis, rivalry, and fusion--and outlines investigations of these phenomena in adult humans, and in infants and young children using psychophysical or behavioral methods. The inquiry into stereopsis focuses on (a) sources of information about distance requisite for veridical perception of depth intervals, (b) differences in depth constancy between crossed and uncrossed disparities, (c) development of depth constancy, (d) the stereoscopic transfer function and its development, and (e) the interaction of motion and depth. Research on binocular rivalry examines the dichoptic interaction between higher order motion patterns (e.g., biological motion and vector motion) that permit an uncoupling of phenomenal conflict from the physical conflict between corresponding points normally present in rivalry-inducing stimuli. Research on binocular fusion investigates inhibitory interocular interactions, different from rivalry, that may be present during fusion. While the immediate objective is to learn more about each of these phenomena, a long range objective is to contribute to the development of a general theory of binocular vision that accommodates all within a unified framework.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Eye Institute (NEI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01EY000590-26
Application #
3255454
Study Section
Visual Sciences B Study Section (VISB)
Project Start
1978-09-01
Project End
1991-08-31
Budget Start
1989-09-01
Budget End
1990-08-31
Support Year
26
Fiscal Year
1989
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
004413456
City
Nashville
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
37203
Fox, R; Oross 3rd, S (1990) Mental retardation and perception of global motion. Percept Psychophys 48:252-8
Blake, R; Westendorf, D; Fox, R (1990) Temporal perturbations of binocular rivalry. Percept Psychophys 48:593-602
Mustillo, P; Francis, E; Oross 3rd, S et al. (1988) Anisotropies in global stereoscopic orientation discrimination. Vision Res 28:1315-21
Fox, R; Oross 3rd, S (1988) Deficits in stereoscopic depth perception by mildly mentally retarded adults. Am J Ment Retard 93:232-44
Oross 3rd, S; Francis, E; Mauk, D et al. (1987) The Ames window illusion: perception of illusory motion by human infants. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 13:609-13
Mustillo, P; Fox, R (1986) The perception of illusory contours in the hypercyclopean domain. Percept Psychophys 40:362-3
Fox, R; Patterson, R; Francis, E L (1986) Stereoacuity in young children. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 27:598-600
Cormack, R; Fox, R (1985) The computation of disparity and depth in stereograms. Percept Psychophys 38:375-80
Cormack, R; Fox, R (1985) The computation of retinal disparity. Percept Psychophys 37:176-8