title: Stereoscopic depth but not shape perception from second-order stimuli.
abstract: Depth can be seen using either linear (first-order) or non-linear (second-order) stereo micropatterns when, in the latter, contrast envelopes contain the disparity information. We examined whether a second-order mechanism can contribute to the perception of 3-D surface shape. Using a variety of different stimulus types, we show that for each, shape is easy to see with linear stimuli. Over a wide range of parameters however, none of our observers perceived shape, however faintly, from the non-linear stimuli. To explore why these elements failed, we simplified our stimulus to a step-edge in depth and measured performance while varying the number of elements. We show how performance declined when more than two non-linear elements were used. We discuss reasons for the limitation found for non-matching elements, including a dissociation for stereopsis between seeing surface shape and depth.
authors.affiliation: McGill Vision Research, Department of Opthalmology, McGill University, Montreal, Que., Canada. zieg@astra.vision.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Hess
mesh_terms: D015350:Contrast Sensitivity; D003867:Depth Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D011601:Psychophysics; D012399:Rotation; D015357:Vision Disparity