Free-Looking Time for Randomly Generated Polygons with Experimenter Present: Effects of Content and Duration of Foreperiod

Abstract

Free-looking time for randomly generated 18-sided polygons was measured with E present after Ss had been exposed to 2-, 20-, or 45-sec. foreperiods containing either darkness, homogeneous white light, or similar polygons. Free-looking time increased monotonically as a function of foreperiod duration for all three kinds of foreperiod stimuli. Free-looking time following darkness significantly exceeded that following homogeneous light or polygons. Content and duration of foreperiod did not interact. The results are consistent with a tendency by Ss to imitate foreperiod durations during the free-looking period coupled with a constant increment in free-looking time whenever there is a transition from a dark foreperiod to a lighted free-looking period. The results are not consistent with an effect of perceptual deprivation under the conditions tested.