PBS Colloquium - Probing Visual Perception Outside of Awareness

Presented by Randolph Blake, Centenial Professor at Vanderbilt University & Professor of Brain & Cognitive Science at Seoul National University, on September 26th, 2014. 

Visual awareness seems to occupy center stage in our perceptual world, but is that just an illusion? To rephrase that question in a tractable form, what aspects of visual processing transpire outside of awareness? One very useful tool for answering that question is the beguiling phenomenon called binocular rivalry – fluctuations in perceptual dominance between conflicting visual images presented separately to the two eyes. This talk highlights some surprising discoveries that have been made using rivalry to dissociate physical stimulation from perceptual awareness. View video.