Abstract.
A generalized quantum theoretical framework, not restricted to the validity domain of standard quantum physics, is used to model the dynamics of the bistable perception of ambiguous visual stimuli such as the Necker cube. The central idea is to treat the perception process in terms of the evolution of an unstable two-state system. This gives rise to a “Necker-Zeno” effect, in analogy to the quantum Zeno effect. A quantitative relation between the involved time scales is theoretically derived. This relation is found to be satisfied by empirically obtained cognitive time scales relevant for bistable perception.
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Acknowledgments.
We are grateful to Werner Ehm, Jürgen Kornmeier, and Jiri Wackermann for helpful discussions. Two anonymous referees helped to improve an earlier version of this paper.
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Atmanspacher, H., Filk, T. & Römer, H. Quantum Zeno features of bistable perception. Biol. Cybern. 90, 33–40 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-003-0436-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-003-0436-4