Effect of stimulus duration on perceptual onset and offset latencies

Efron, Robert

doi:10.3758/bf03210211

Cited by 179 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…For example, Sperling (1960) found that partial reports of the identity of letters embedded in multiletter displays reduced to an asymptotic limit as the duration between array offset and the onset of an indicator to the to-be-reported letter row was increased to around 300 ms. A similar duration has also been estimated by Collins (1967, 1968), who found that identification of nonsense syllables formed by the superposition of one random-dot image upon another decreased with increasing ISI between the two images, reaching asymptote within the range of 100 to 300 ms. Further examinations of the relationship between stimulus duration and persistence have produced evidence that persistence is the inverse of stimulus duration up to a maximum overall duration of 300 ms or less. This inverse duration effect was first demonstrated by Efron (1970aEfron ( , 1970bEfron ( , 1970c, who proposed that a fixed perceptual duration of 240 ms was composed of a minimum perceptual onset latency of 130 ms plus persistence, which was fixed at 110 ms for stimuli with a duration of 130 ms or less and inversely related to stimulus durations greater than 130 ms. Subsequently, Coltheart (1980) extended the duration of persistence to be an inverse function of stimulus duration of up to 300 ms. Coltheart (1980) defined persistence in terms of a visual memory that decays asymptotically, is characteristically visible, and therefore is central or late cortical in origin.…”

Section: Durationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for a 40-Hz oscillatory short-term visual memory revealed by human reaction-time measurements.

Elliot¹,

Müller²

2000

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

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Four experiments show that presentation of a synchronous premask frame within a 40-Hz, flickering premask matrix primes subsequent detection of a Kanizsa-type square by generation of a 40-Hz prime. Reaction time (RT) priming effects indicated a 150-200-ms prime duration following premask display. Kite were also found to be sensitive to the phase relationship between offset of the premask display relative to the onset time of the target: Priming effects were maximal when the target was presented out of phase with premask presentation (i.e., at interstimulus intervals displaced by 180° relative to the 40-Hz rhythm of premask-frame presentation). Taken together, these results demonstrate the existence of a very short-term visual memory that oscillates at 40 Hz. The findings are discussed in the context of complementary psychological and neurophysiological findings related to visual-object coding and the role of gamma-band activity in the brain.In order to represent the organization of separable feature elements as a single perceptual entity, the elements must be independently coded and then recombined or "bound" into a composite object representation. Neurophysiological studies have demonstrated that separate features of a stimulus object are coded by functionally specialized neurons, optimally tuned to particular stimulus attributes such as length, spatial frequency, spectral density, and orientation (e.g., Hubel & Wiesel, 1959;Livingstone & Hubel, 1988). In addition, recent single-cell recording studies have demonstrated that, although features belonging to the same object are coded by separate neurons, these neurons adjust their firing patterns to fire in synchrony. These findings have led to the hypothesis that synchronization of patterns of activity among featurecoding neurons is the most likely neurophysiological correlate of psychophysical "feature binding" (e.g., Gray, Konig, Engel, & Singer, 1989).The electrophysiological recordings of synchronized neuronal activity have typically been obtained from a series of

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Section: Durationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for a 40-Hz oscillatory short-term visual memory revealed by human reaction-time measurements.

Elliot¹,

Müller²

2000

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

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“…The absence of error when the middle interval is filled, as in Experiment IV, might be explained by assuming that the onset of the second stimulus terminated the representation of the first stimulus. Efron (1970) has reported that brief stimuli either visual or auditory, produced a delayed perceptual offset. However, the effect holds only for very brief stimuli, of less than approximately 150 msec in duration, and could not be stretched to cover the errors in the range of 400 to 650 msec found in the present study.…”

Section: =100jmentioning

confidence: 99%

A constant error in the perception of brief temporal intervals

Craig

1973

Perception & Psychophysics

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Ss were presented two stimuli of equal duration separated in time. The pairs of stimuli were vibretactile. auditory, or visual. The Ss adjusted the time between the two stimuli to be equal to the duration of the first stimulus. The results show that for stimulus durations ranging from 100 to 1,200 msec, Ss set the time between the two stimuli too long and by a constant amount. For vibrotactile stimuli, the constant was 596 msec: for auditory stimuli. 657 msec: and for visual stimuli, 436 rnsec. Changing the intensity of the vibrotactile stimuli did not change the size of the constant error. When Ss were presented two tones with a burst of white noise between the tones and adjusted the duration of the white noise to be equal to the duration of the first tone, the white noise was not adjusted too long by a constant amount. The results suggest that there is a constant error in the perception of unfilled relative to filled temporal intervals.In the course of exploring the possibility of utilizing the time between vibratory stimuli as a cue in a cutaneous communication system, Ss were presented with brief pairs of stimuli of equal duration. When the time between the two stimuli was equal to the duration of the stimuli, Ss reported that the time between felt much shorter than the duration of the stimuli. Such a result is consistent with a general statement that is often made in summarizing the literature on time perception, viz, "filled" intervals, time periods during which a stimulus is presented, are overestimated relative to "unfilled" intervals, time periods during which no stimuli are presented. Investigators have examined numerous stimulus and S variables to determine their effect on the amount of overestimation that occurs or whether, indeed. any overestimation occurs at all (Fraisse, 1964;Woodrow, 1953). Because of these variables, it is difficult to predict with certainty the extent to which any particular stimulus might be overestimated. The present study was concerned with Ss' judgments of the time between vibratory stimuli. the effect of intensity changes on such judgments, and generality of the findings for other sense modalities, specifically vision and audition. EXPERIMENT I Method SubjectsTwo groups of Ss were used. The first group consisted of undergraduates who participated in the experiment to fulfill a requirement for an introductory psychology course. These Ss typically participated for two sessions lasting approximately 45 min each. The second group was made up of paid experienced undergraduate Ss, who were tested repeatedly over a number of weeks. Neither group of Ss was given any information about "This study was supported by Grant N5-09783 from the National Institutes of Health, U,S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The author wishes to express his appreciation to Ann Elsner for her assistance in data collection. 99their results or other Ss' results until after the experiment was completed. ApparatusThe apparatus consisted of equipment to generate vibrotactile stimuli and programmi...

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“…The studies concerning visible persistence fall into two groups: (a) Studies concerned with the time difference between stimulus termination and perceptual termination (Adelson, 1978;Appelman, 1980;Bertelson & Tisseyre, 1969;Bowen, Pola, & Matin, 1974;Sakitt, 1976aSakitt, , 1976b and (b) studies concerned with the total phenomenal duration of the stimulus that require reliable judgments of both onset and termination, the estimated stimulus duration being the time difference between judged onset and termination (Efron, 1970a(Efron, , 1970b(Efron, , 1970cHaber & Standing, 1969, 1970Sperling, 1967). There are no statements concerning the actual form of the rise and decay curves or of the complete representation of the stimulus as a function of time in the subject's visual system.…”

Section: Visible Persistencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is an essentially arbitrary translation of the TBR on the time axis. The duration of persistence properly is indexed from an onset judgment to a termination judgment (Efron, 1970a(Efron, , 1970b(Efron, , 1970cHaber& Standing, 1969, 1970Sperling, 1967). Onset-to-termination indexing cancels any (subject dependent) constant factor that might relate judgments of simultaneity between auditory and visual events.…”

Section: Duration Of Visible Persistencementioning

confidence: 99%