Abstract

A 150-ms flash of light is not only brighter than shorter flashes of the same luminance but is also brighter than longer flashes. The brightness decrement resulting from duration increments, the Broca–Sulzer phenomenon, does not occur when the contours of the stimulus field are heavily blurred. This suggests that the phenomenon is due to the temporal properties of a contour-dependent inhibitory process in the visual system. The result conflicts with the predictions of a lateral-inhibition explanation for the Broca–Sulzer phenomenon, but may be explainable in terms of movements of illuminance contours on the retina.

© 1973 Optical Society of America

Exponent of the Broca–Sulzer flash duration as a function of retinal eccentricity

Naoyuki Osaka
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 72(1) 62-67 (1982)

The Phenomenon of Broca and Sulzer in Foveal Vision1

Walter H. Stainton
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 16(1) 26-39 (1928)

Brightness function: Effect of area and duration

R. J. W. Mansfield
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 63(8) 913-920 (1973)

Durations of the After-Images of Brief Light Flashes and the Theory of the Broca and Sulzer Phenomenon*

Mathew Alpern and Lloyd Barr
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 52(2) 219-221 (1962)

Color Recognition during Voluntary Saccades*†

Victoria Lederberg
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 60(6) 835-842 (1970)