Binocular rivalry occurs without simultaneous presentation of rival stimuli

Abstract

It has always been assumed that for binocular rivalry to occur, the dichoptic stimuli must be exposed simultaneously. However, we demonstrate binocular rivalry between rival stimuli that are never simultaneously displayed. This successive binocular rivalry is indistinguishable from normal rivalry with equal-duration alternate presentation of the rival stimuli at rates down to about 20 Hz. Rivalry is evident despite obvious flicker for presentation rates as low as 3 Hz. Rivalry also survives a dark interval of more than 100 msec, introduced between alternate brief presentations (5 msec) of the dichoptic stimuli. Simultaneous brief exposure of the rival stimuli produces an equivalent amount of rivalry, which persists for more than 300 msec. This implies that rivalry persistence involves a peripheral, monocular component and a central, binocular component, as has been shown for stereopsis. © 1984 Psychonomic Society, Inc.