RESEARCH ARTICLE BOTTOM-UP MODULATION WITHIN THE SCOPE OF CONSUMERS´ VISUAL PERCEPTION: THE EFFECT OF PREVIOUS OCULAR FIXATIONS ON THE PERCEPTION OF BISTABLE LOGOTYPES 1,* Guillermo Rodríguez and 2 Fernando Marroquín-Ciendúa 1 Ph.D. in Psychology, Lecturer Assistant at School of Advertising, Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano 2 Ph.D. (C) in Psychology, Lecturer Assistant at School of Advertising, Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Background: Bistable images are visual stimuli that have the particular characteristic of being interpreted in two different ways. Due to their physical characteristics, these images, while being observed, encourage the observer to make perceptual alternations, in such a way that it is never possible to perceive the two possible percepts simultaneously. The defining lines and contours of a bistable image, along with all its characteristics, can influence its perception, as well as the areas of the image that are observed. Thus, the fixation points that direct attention to specific areas become modulating factors of the bottom-up type. This phenomenon applies to advertising logos of bistable type. Objective: the study aimed at establishing the influence that a fixation point shown previously can exert on the perception of two bistable logotypes. Thus, it was wanted to find if there is (or not) a bottom-up modulation effect caused by eye-fixations on a particular area of the images that might be related to one of the possible percepts of the bistable stimuli. Method: Using a fixed 120-Hz eye- tracking device, two bistable logos were observed by thirty-five participants in optimal mental health conditions. A fixation point was manipulated at the beginning of the observation of each logo to contrast the perceptions reported in that condition with the interpretations given when the logos were observed without any fixation point that could modulate the observer´s attention. An intrasubject design was conducted so that the two bistable logotypes used could be observed by all the participants. The presentation of bistable stimulus was counterbalanced so as to control the effect that the order of images could make. Results: The data was not distributed normally. By using a non- parametrical statistical test (U-MannWithney), it was found that the fixation point had a significant effect on the interpretation of the percept associated with the area where such point was placed. There is some evidence that lends support to the fact that the observed areas of a bistable stimulus have an impact on its interpretation. Conclusions: It is possible to influence the perception of a bistable logo by means of bottom-up modulators. The brain processes visual sensory information by focusing on specific features of bistable stimuli that can modulate the perception. By drawing the observer´s attention to areas that can influence visual perception, it is possible to direct bistable perception favoring one of the possible percepts to be perceived over the other one. INTRODUCTION Bistable perception is a perceptual phenomenon, through which an observer perceives a stimulus in two different ways (Borisyuk, Chik, & Kazanovich, 2009; Clément, & Demel, 2012; van Loon, Knapen, St. John-Saaltink, Donner, & Lamme, 2013; Gori, Giora, & Pedersini, 2008; Grossmann & Dobbins, 2006; Pressnitzer, & Hupé, 2006; Sterzer, & Rees, 2009; Weilnhammer, Ludwig, Sterzer, & Hesselmann, 2014). While the stimulus remains invariable, the observer changes from one interpretation to the other one as the stimulus has two different possibilities to be interpreted (Baker, Karapanagiotidis, Coggan, Wailes-Newson, & Smallwood, 2015; Liu, Tzeng, Hung, Tseng, & Juan, 2012; Schauer, Kanai, & Brascamp, 2016). As regards, the two possible percepts cannot be perceived simultaneously (Rodríguez, & Castillo, 2018). *Corresponding author: Guillermo Rodríguez , Ph.D. in Psychology, Lecturer Assistant at School of Advertising, Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano. Given the fact that bistable visual stimuli allow for two possible percepts, they can also be called ambiguous images (Gijs, & van Ee, 2006; Okazaki, Kaneko, Yumoto, & Arima, 2008). Similarly, the phenomenon of perceptual visual bistability can also be called visual bistability (Intaité, Kovisto, & Castelo-Branco, 2014), whereby the leap from one percept to the other one is known as perceptual reversal (Clément, & Demel, 2012; Sandberg, Barnes, Bahrami, Kanai, Overgaard, & Rees, 2014). Bistable perception implies two internal mental states that are called transition and maintenance (Sen, Daimi, Watanabe, Takahashi, Bhattacharya, & Saha (2019). The transition state lasts a short time whereas maintenance state is comparatively longer and is related to the stabilization of one of the two possible percetps after having experienced the transition (Sen et al., 2019). This transition is the so-called perceptual reversal (Rodríguez, & Castillo, 2018). The study of bistable perception has led to categorizing several types of bistable images (Bialystok, & Shapero, 2005). Long and Toppino (1981) identified three different types of bistable images (see in figure 1): 1. Article History: Received 20th may, 2019 Received in revised form 10th June, 2019 Accepted 24th July, 2019 Published online 31st August, 2019 www.ijramr.com International Journal of Recent Advances in Multidisciplinary Research Vol. 06, Issue 08, pp.5129-5135, August, 2019 Keywords: Bottom-up Effect, Visual Perception, Bistable Images, Bistable Logotypes.