Stereo-slant adaptation is high level and does not involve disparity coding

Ellen M. Berends, Baoxia Liu, Clifton M. Schor
2005 Journal of Vision  
We have investigated the potential stages of visual processing at which adaptation may occur to a slanted surface produced by horizontal magnification. Predictions of three hypotheses were tested utilizing a property of depth from binocular disparity, namely that slant scales with distance. If adaptation occurs at the disparity level, then the after-effect expressed in units of horizontal magnification will be independent of the test distance. If adaptation occurs at either a perceived slant or
more » ... mapping level, then the after-effect, expressed in units of slant, will be independent of the test distance. If adaptation is contingent on distance, then the after-effect will not transfer over distance. Subjects adapted to a stereodefined slanted surface at a distance of 57 cm. The after-effect was measured with a test stimulus at a distance of 28, 57, 85, or 114 cm by means of a nulling method. When the after-effect was expressed in units of slant, we found that it was larger at the adapting distance than other test distances, and that the after-effect was constant at test distances different from the adaptation distance. These results suggest that two types of adaptation occurred, namely adaptation on a mapping/perception level and adaptation contingent on distance.
doi:10.1167/5.1.7 pmid:15831068 fatcat:3d7u2spgmvc5tgyo4apppwtyvy