EFFECTS OF STIMULUS ONSET AND IMAGE MOTION ON CONTRAST SENSITIVITY

Spatial sinusoidal gratings were viewed under both stabilized and unstabilized viewing conditions. They were presented either with a gradual or a sharp onset. The results indicate that contrast sensitivity to a range of frequencies centered around 2-3 deg is decreased by a maximum of 0.3 log units when high frequency temporal stimulation induced either by the sharp onset of the spatial pattern or by the motion of the retinal image is minimized. Data are presented which suggest that under conditions of minimal temporal stimulation, if fading of the stabilized image is also allowed, sensitivity may be decreased by a larger amount. © 1979.