Object-Based Anisotropies in the Flash-Lag Effect

The relative visual position of a briefly flashed stimulus is systematically modified in the presence of motion signals. We investigated the two-dimensional distortion of the positional representation of a flash relative to a moving stimulus. Analysis of the spatial pattern of mislocalization reveal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPsychological science Vol. 17; no. 8; pp. 728 - 735
Main Authors Watanabe, Katsumi, Yokoi, Kenji
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA Blackwell Publishing 01.08.2006
SAGE Publications
Subjects
Adult
Anisotropy
Experimentation
Fixation, Ocular
Geometric shapes
Humans
Mathematical vectors
Mental objects
Mental stimulation
Motion Perception
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Reaction Time
Saccades
Space Perception
Speed
Visual Perception
Visual system
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Summary:The relative visual position of a briefly flashed stimulus is systematically modified in the presence of motion signals. We investigated the two-dimensional distortion of the positional representation of a flash relative to a moving stimulus. Analysis of the spatial pattern of mislocalization revealed that the perceived position of a flash was not uniformly displaced, but instead shifted toward a single point of convergence that followed the moving object from behind at a fixed distance. Although the absolute magnitude of mislocalization increased with motion speed, the convergence point remained unaffected. The motion modified the perceived position of a flash, but had little influence on the perceived shape of a spatially extended flash stimulus. These results demonstrate that motion anisotropically distorts positional representation after the shapes of objects are represented. Furthermore, the results imply that the flash-lag effect may be considered a special case of two-dimensional anisotropic distortion.
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01773.x