Abstract
Two experiments investigated the effects of the direction of straight-line motion on the perceived pointing of moving ambiguous (equilateral) triangles. Experiment 1 used a “preference” paradigm in which observers reported the direction in which they first saw a moving triangle point, and Experiment 2 used a performance-oriented “interference” paradigm based on a discrimination task. Results from both tasks showed systematic biases due to the relation between the direction of motion and the structure of the triangle: Motion along an axis of symmetry (parallel to a possible direction of pointing) facilitated perceived pointing along that axis. However, motion along a side of the triangle (perpendicular to a possible direction of pointing) produced no such facilitative effect, in contrast to analogous perpendicular effects in previous studies using static patterns (Palmer, 1980; Palmer & Bucher, 1981, 1982). These results are interpreted as evidence that event symmetry is an important stimulus characteristic underlying directional biases due to motion. Response compatibility was also found to affect performance on both tasks.
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This article is based in part on the doctoral dissertation of the first author under the direction of the second author. The research was supported by Grant MH-33103 from the National Institute of Mental Health and by Grant BNS-8319630 from the National Science Foundation to the second author.
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Bucher, N.M., Palmer, S.E. Effects of motion on perceived pointing of ambiguous triangles. Perception & Psychophysics 38, 227–236 (1985). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207150
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207150