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Implied motion perception from a still image in infancy

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Abstract

Visual motion perception can arise from non-directional visual stimuli, such as still images (implied motion, cf. Kourtzi, Trends Cogn Sci 8:47–49, 2004). We tested 5- to 8-month-old infants’ implied motion perception with two experiments using the forced-choice preferential looking method. Our results indicated that a still image of a person running toward either the left or right side significantly enhanced infants’ visual preference for a visual target that consistently appeared on the same side as the running direction (the run condition in Experiment 1). Such enhanced visual preference disappeared in response to an image of the same person standing and facing the left/right side (the stand condition in Experiment 1), an image of the running figure covered with a set of opaque rectangles (the block condition in Experiment 2) (Gervais et al. in Atten Percept Psychophys 72:1437–1443, 2010), and an image of the inverted running figure (the inversion condition in Experiment 3). These results suggest that only the figure that implied dynamic body motion shifted the infants’ visual preference to the same direction as the implied running action. These findings demonstrate that even infants as young as 5 to 8 months old are sensitive to the implied motion of static figures.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by Grants-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 26705009 to N.S.), a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 23220006 to T.I.), and a Grant-in-Aid for Research Projects from Institute of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education, Niigata University (to N.S.). We would like to thank the infants and their families for their participation and Naoki Furuhata, Erika Izumi, Yui Matsumura, Yuki Mori, Hinako Takayanagi, and Shunki Yuzawa for their assistance in data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Niigata University, 2-8050, Ikarashi Nishi-Ku, Niigata, 950-2181, Japan

    Nobu Shirai

  2. Department of Information Systems, Niigata University of International and Information Studies, 3-1-1, Mizukino, Nishi-ku, Niigata, 950-2292, Japan

    Tomoko Imura

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  1. Nobu Shirai
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  2. Tomoko Imura
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Correspondence to Nobu Shirai or Tomoko Imura.

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Shirai, N., Imura, T. Implied motion perception from a still image in infancy. Exp Brain Res 232, 3079–3087 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3996-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3996-8

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