On binocular alternation

Diaz-Caneja (1928) made some prescient observations about binocular rivalry . Being in French, however, his paper remained largely unknown to the broad er research community. His findings are similar to those reported very rece ntly by contemporary researchers who had independently observed similar phe nomena. Using concentric circles and parallel lines as stimuli, Diaz-Caneja presented half of each form to opposite eyes to provoke binocular rivalry. He observed periods in the ensuing binocular alternations in which rivalry occurred between the good Gestalt forms, despite the fact that they were d istributed between the eyes. He proposed that each half of a good form gene rates synchronised oscillations in the visual system, and that this synchro nisation enables the dichoptically viewed halves of the one form to be perc eived as a whole.