On central vision activity and peripheral sensitivity: A method with potentialities for research on a range of problems in visual perception

Peripheral sensitivity of the human eye, P_s, and the processing capacity of the central retina, V_c, are assumed to be inversely related. On this basis, a method was designed, whereby P_s as a function of V_c can be determined and a family of P_s maps for the whole surface of the periphery can be obtained. This can be done by means of an experimental system consisting of a computer-based visual field, a hemisphere, on which tracking patterns with varying degrees of difficulty are displayed centrally (V_c) and multivariate signals (to be detected) are simultaneously presented on the periphery (as indexes of P_s). Since the apparatus is capable of producing and controlling a great number of variables, it can, with slight or no modifications, be used to study a wide range of problems in the field of visual perception and attention.