On the nature of the stimulus information necessary for estimating mean size of visual arrays

Abstract

This paper explores the nature of the representations used for computing mean visual size of an array of visual objects of different sizes. In Experiment 1 we found that mean size judgments are accurately made even when the individual objects (circles) upon which those judgments were based were distributed between the two eyes. Mean size judgments were impaired, however, when a subset of the constituent objects involved in the estimation of mean size were rendered invisible by interocular suppression. These findings suggest that mean size is computed from relatively refined stimulus information represented at stages of visual processing beyond those involved in binocular combination and interocular suppression. In Experiment 2 we used an attentional blink paradigm to learn whether this refined information was susceptible to the constraints of attention. Accuracy of mean size judgments was unchanged when one of the two arrays of circles was presented within a rapid serial visual presentation sequence, regardless of task requirement (single vs. dual task) and the array's time of presentation relative to the brief appearance of a target that was the focus of attention. Evidently the refined stimulus information used for computing mean size remains available even in the absence of focused attention.