Monocular texture segmentation and proto-rivalry

When the right eye’s target is the left eye’s distracter and vice versa, orientation-defined search is impossible unless, as we show here, the elements are close together. More than 1 s was required to find inverse-cyclopean texture boundaries when elements were arranged on a 16 × 16 grid. Less than 250 ms was required for a 24 × 24 grid covering the same area. The conventional view is that binocular rivalry requires at least 200 ms to develop, but our results suggest a more rapid access to monocular signals. We call this rapid form of access “proto-rivalry.”