Abstract

Square test fields subtending a visual angle of 1° on a side were presented at 28 positions in the field of vision on a circle with a radius of 10° around fixation. Visual thresholds for the right eye, the left eye, and for both eyes were determined on two observers. In the lateral periphery the binocular thresholds are lower than the monocular thresholds (binocular summation); near the vertical meridian above and below fixation, however, binocular sensitivity is not greater than monocular sensitivity. When, instead of squares, rectangular test fields of $\frac{1}{2}°\times \mathrm{2°}$ and $\frac{1}{4}°\times \mathrm{4°}$ are presented in horizontal or vertical position, it is found that on the median line no binocular summation occurs when the test fields are presented vertically, but summation prevails when the test fields are presented horizontally. It appears that the amount of overlap of a test field into the lateral periphery and the conveying of impulses from both retinas to the same cerebral hemisphere is important for binocular summation.

© 1963 Optical Society of America

Uniocular and Binocular Scotopic Responsiveness of the Peripheral Retina*

Ernst Wolf and Michael J. Zigler
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 49(4) 394-398 (1959)

Excitation of the Peripheral Retina with Coincident and Disparate Test Fields*

Ernst Wolf and Michael J. Zigler
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 55(11) 1517-1519 (1965)

Sensitivity of the Retinal Area in One Eye Corresponding to the Blind Spot in the Other Eye*

Ernst Wolf and Jean S. Gardiner
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 53(12) 1437-1440 (1963)

Brightness Function: Effects of Adaptation*

J. C. Stevens and S. S. Stevens
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 53(3) 375-385 (1963)

Binocular Summation at the Absolute Threshold of Peripheral Vision*

Leonard Matin
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 52(11) 1276-1286 (1962)