Contrast sensitivity of the motion system.
A number of experiments were conducted to investigate how global-motion performance varies with luminance contrast. When all the dots in the stimulus were the same contrast, performance improved with increasing contrast up to about the 15% level (Experiment 1). Increasing the contrast beyond this level had no additional effect on performance. When the contrast of a subgroup of the dots was varied, differential effects on performance could be obtained for contrasts up to the 80% level (Experiment 2). These results are interpreted as indicating that the performance saturation observed in Experiment 1 was due to the attainment of a performance ceiling at the global-motion level, and not due to contrast-response saturation of the underlying local-motion detectors. The results of earlier studies that have apparently found conflicting results (saturation vs no saturation) are discussed in light of the present results.
Edwards
M
M
University of California, School of Optometry, Berkeley 94720, USA.
Badcock
D R
DR
Nishida
S
S
D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D011601:Psychophysics; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology