Abstract
Twenty Ss were exposed to a wide range of luminances (8.5, 55, 792, 6,800 fL) of a centrally located diffuse white search panel. Each S attempted to detect the onset of seven randomly presented test lights (90, 60, 30 deg of arc left and right of 0 deg of arc along the horizontal meridian) concurrently with a continuous search task. The findings suggest that the visual field constricts with an increased central panel luminance. This is shown by an increased peripheral detection time (DT) and by more undetected peripheral test lights, even though the difficulty of the central search task was held constant. These results on the effect of an environmental stressor (high luminance) upon peripheral DT are related to findings from previous investigations as well as various applied situations.
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Zahn, J.R., Haines, R.F. The influence of central search task luminance upon peripheral visual detection time. Psychon Sci 24, 271–279 (1971). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329004
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329004