The independence of rapid interocular inhibition (Experiment 2).

The temporal limit identified in Experiment 1 is largely uninfluenced by asymmetric stimulation between the eyes, and therefore independent of rapid inter-ocular inhibition. This subject's data show an unbiased perception for periods up to about 433 ms; only for greater periods inter-ocular inhibition causes perceptual biases. A. Data for single trials. B. Means (± s.e.m.). The vertical dashed line represents the position of the temporal limit found in Experiment 1. The small excursion towards unity near a period of 267 ms did not occur for other observers. Averaged over 4 subjects, the temporal limit is 348±33 ms (mean±between-subject s.e.). C. The dominance duration distribution for the conditions with repetition periods of 213–267 ms. Even though the patterns in the two eyes are not delivered simultaneously, a gamma distribution characteristic of binocular rivalry is obtained. Normalized dominance durations were obtained by dividing percept durations by the average percept duration for each subject individually. Gamma fit parameters: shape: 4.2; scale: 0.24. The non-normalized mean percept durations are also similar to durations for conventional binocular rivalry: 2.6±0.5 seconds (mean±s.e.m over subjects). BR = Binocular rivalry; DM = Dichoptic Masking (i.e. very biased rivalry), note that at long repetition periods the stimulus is indeed very much like a series of rapidly paced dichoptic masking trials.