Stereoscopic depth aftereffects without retinal position correspondence between adaptation and test stimuli

Abstract

To clarify whether stereo-slant aftereffects are independent of stimulated retinal position, two experiments compared the magnitude of aftereffects between the following two conditions: when the adaptation and test stimulus fell on (1) the same retinal position, and (2) on different retinal positions separated by 0.5 degrees -20 degrees . In Experiment 1, disc- or ring-shaped surface consisting of random-dots was presented at the central or peripheral visual fields. In Experiment 2, rectangular surface was presented at the upper or lower visual fields. After two minutes inspection of a random-dot stereogram depicting a +/-30 degrees slanted surface, the observer adjusted the slant of the test stimulus to appear fronto-parallel. The results of the experiments showed that significant aftereffects were observed similarly in both conditions. Moreover, the separation nor the stimulus shape scarcely affected the magnitude of the aftereffects. Based on these results we concluded that the depth processing mechanism which operates independently from the stimulated retinal position is responsible for the depth aftereffects we found.