Localization Errors in Context
Mon-A6-Talk II-02
Presented by: Ian M. Thornton
In laboratory experiments, it has often been reported that observers tend to mislocalize the position of moving objects. In most such studies, the target object in question is relatively simple (e.g., a single dot or a line), and its local motion is presented in isolation, devoid of the usual global context present when things move in the world around us. Is global context then irrelevant for understanding how we perceive the position of moving objects? Here I will argue that it is not, for at least two reasons. First, global scene context may typically provide additional reference information that can anchor/improve local estimates of object motion, helping to reduce localization errors. Second, integration of local motion components within an object or scene may sometimes dramatically alter our overall, global percept (e.g., biological motion, aperture-effect). We might expect such global dynamics to also modulate patterns of localization. Here I will provide evidence from two recent representational momentum (Freyd & Finke, 1984) studies that specifically address this second aspect of context.
Keywords: Motion, localisation, context, representational momentum