DIFFERENCES IN THE LUMINANCE OF THE FIRST AND 2ND DISPLAYS AFFECTS VISIBLE PERSISTENCE IN OPPOSITE WAYS

Visible persistence was measured using a two-frame temporal integratio n paradigm. Most such studies match the brightness of the two frames, and find that equal increases in the brightness of the frames impairs performance on the task. This suggests that increases in frame brightn ess decrease the duration of visible persistence. Little is known abou t what happens when the frames differ in brightness. In this study, th e luminance intensities of the first and second frames were set at fiv e different intensity levels in a factorial arrangement. Increasing th e intensity of the first frame improved performance, whereas increasin g the intensity of the second frame impaired performance. These result s suggest, contrary to the findings with brightness-matched frames, th at increasing the intensity of one frame increases the duration of vis ible persistence of that frame. A mathematical model supports this con clusion. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.