Document Detail


Rotating dotted ellipses: motion perception driven by grouped figural rather than local dot motion signals.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  17548102     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Unlike the motion of a continuous contour, the motion of a single dot is unambiguous and immune to the aperture problem. Here we exploit this fact to explore the conditions under which unambiguous local motion signals are used to drive global percepts of an ellipse undergoing rotation. In previous work, we have shown that a thin, high aspect ratio ellipse will appear to rotate faster than a lower aspect ratio ellipse even when the two in fact rotate at the same angular velocity [Caplovitz, G. P., Hsieh, P. -J., & Tse, P. U. (2006) Mechanisms underlying the perceived angular velocity of a rigidly rotating object. Vision Research, 46(18), 2877-2893]. In this study we examined the perceived speed of rotation of ellipses defined by a virtual contour made up of evenly spaced dots. RESULTS: Ellipses defined by closely spaced dots exhibit the speed illusion observed with continuous contours. That is, thin dotted ellipses appear to rotate faster than fat dotted ellipses when both rotate at the same angular velocity. This illusion is not observed if the dots defining the ellipse are spaced too widely apart. A control experiment ruled out low spatial frequency "blurring" as the source of the illusory percept. CONCLUSION: Even in the presence of local motion signals that are immune to the aperture problem, the global percept of an ellipse undergoing rotation can be driven by potentially ambiguous motion signals arising from the non-local form of the grouped ellipse itself. Here motion perception is driven by emergent motion signals such as those of virtual contours constructed by grouping procedures. Neither these contours nor their emergent motion signals are present in the image.
Authors:
G P Caplovitz; P U Tse
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.     Date:  2007-06-04
Journal Detail:
Title:  Vision research     Volume:  47     ISSN:  0042-6989     ISO Abbreviation:  Vision Res.     Publication Date:  2007 Jul 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2007-06-19     Completed Date:  2007-08-14     Revised Date:  2007-12-03    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0417402     Medline TA:  Vision Res     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  1979-91     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. Gideon.Caplovitz@dartmouth.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Form Perception*
Humans
Motion Perception*
Optical Illusions*
Photic Stimulation / methods
Psychophysics
Rotation
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
R03 MH0609660-01/MH/NIMH NIH HHS

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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