Monocular and Binocular Vision in One-Hand Ball Catching: Interocular Integration

In 2 experiments, binocular and monocular vision were compared and interocular integration in 1-hand ball catching was examined. Participants (N = 10 in each experiment) were required to catch tennis balls projected over a distance of 15 m. Participants wore liquid-crystal visual occlusion goggles so that the duration and frequency of visual samples provided to their eyes over ball flight could be manipulated. An examination of catching performance indicated that binocular vision contributed to both the spatial and temporal aspects of the catching task. Experienced catchers are able to integrate information from the 2 eyes over intervals as long as 80-100 ms. When provided with only intermittent monocular samples of ball flight, catching performance deteriorated rapidly as the interval between consecutive samples was increased. Results are discussed both in terms of the sources of visual information useful for the interception of objects and the temporal differences for interocular integration between the perception of form and visual-motor control.