Human visual system activity and perception of intermittent light stimuli

Pinneo, Lawrence R.; Heath, Robert G.

doi:10.1016/0022-510x(67)90138-4

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…However, Pinneo & Heath [ 4 ] provide evidence that differential firing rates of ganglion cells may determine the frequency at which fusion occurs. They recorded from two patients with depth electrodes that had been implanted for therapeutic purposes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Talbot-Plateau law [ 1 – 4 ] asserts that a flash sequence that is above the flicker-fusion threshold will be perceived as being equal in brightness to a steady stimulus when the average intensity of the former matches the intensity of the latter. The average across both light and dark periods of the flash sequence specifies the quantity of photons being delivered across each light/dark cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating Letter Recognition, Flicker Fusion, and the Talbot-Plateau Law using Microsecond-Duration Flashes

Greene

2015

PLoS ONE

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Four experiments examined the ability of respondents to identify letters that were displayed on an LED array with flashes lasting little more than a microsecond. The first experiment displayed each letter with a single, simultaneous flash of all the dots forming the letter and established the relation of flash intensity to the probability of letter identification. The second experiment displayed the letters with multiple flashes at different frequencies to determine the probability that the sequence of flashes would be perceived as fused. The third experiment displayed the letters at a frequency that was above the flicker-fusion frequency, varying flash intensity to establish the amount needed to elicit a given probability of letter identification. The fourth experiment displayed each letter twice, once at a frequency where no flicker was perceived and also with steady light emission. The intensity of each flash was fixed and the steady intensity was varied; respondents were asked to judge whether the fused-flicker display and the steady display appeared to be the same brightness. Steady intensity was about double the average flash intensity where the two conditions were perceived as being equal in brightness. This is at odds with Talbot-Plateau law, which predicts that these two values should be equal. The law was formulated relative to a flash lasting half of each period, so it is surprising that it comes this close to being correct where the flash occupies only a millionth of the total period.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Letter Recognition, Flicker Fusion, and the Talbot-Plateau Law using Microsecond-Duration Flashes

Greene

2015

PLoS ONE

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“…A number of investigators suggested that transient-responding channels change to provide sustained response once the frequency of flashes becomes sufficiently high ( Granit, 1955 ; Arduini and Pinneo, 1962 ; Arduini, 1963 ; Pinneo and Heath, 1967 ). DeValois et al (1962) observed differentials for ON and OFF channels using extracellular recordings from lateral geniculate nucleus of macaques.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Talbot-Plateau law

Greene¹,

Morrison²

2023

Front. Neurosci.

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The Talbot-Plateau law asserts that when the flux (light energy) of a flicker-fused stimulus equals the flux of a steady stimulus, they will appear equal in brightness. To be perceived as flicker-fused, the frequency of the flash sequence must be high enough that no flicker is perceived, i.e., it appears to be a steady stimulus. Generally, this law has been accepted as being true across all brightness levels, and across all combinations of flash duration and frequency that generate the matching flux level. Two experiments that were conducted to test the law found significant departures from its predictions, but these were small relative to the large range of flash intensities that were tested.

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“…Identification of the word was a task requirement, as in each of the prior experiments, but respondents were also asked to judge whether the two displays appeared to be equal in brightness. This provided a test of the classic Talbot-Plateau law [ 16 – 19 ], which asserts that the two conditions will be seen as equally bright when the average intensity of the fused-flicker display matches the intensity of the steady display.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognizing Words and Reading Sentences with Microsecond Flash Displays

Greene

2016

PLoS ONE

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Strings of dots can be used to construct easily identifiable letters, and these in turn can be used to write words and sentences. Prior work found that respondents could identify individual letters when all the dots were simultaneously flashed for an ultra-brief duration. Four of the experiments reported here constructed five-letter words with these dot-letters and a fifth experiment used them to write complete sentences. Respondents were able to recognize individual words that were displayed with a single, simultaneous ultra-brief flash of all the letters. Further, sentences could be efficiently read with a sequence of simultaneous flashes at a frequency that produced perceptual fusion. One experiment determined the frequency range that would produce flicker-fusion. Two experiments established the relation of intensity to probability of recognition with single flashes and with fused-flicker frequencies. Another established the intensities at which flicker-fused and steady displays were judged to be equal in brightness. The final experiment used those flicker-fused and steady intensities to display sentences. The two display conditions were read with equal efficiency, even though the flicker-fused displays provided light stimulation only 0.003% of the time.

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Human visual system activity and perception of intermittent light stimuli

Cited by 10 publications

References 23 publications

Evaluating Letter Recognition, Flicker Fusion, and the Talbot-Plateau Law using Microsecond-Duration Flashes

Evaluating Letter Recognition, Flicker Fusion, and the Talbot-Plateau Law using Microsecond-Duration Flashes

Evaluating the Talbot-Plateau law

Recognizing Words and Reading Sentences with Microsecond Flash Displays

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