Abstract
Previous research has demonstrated that the short-range process in apparent movement, as studied with random-dot cinematograms, exhibits global cooperativity; that is, computations performed by local elements interact nonlinearly and are pooled. Other research using displays containing extended contours has implicated the short-range process, but has never demonstrated global cooperativity. In the first of four experiments, it was shown that under certain conditions of presentation, a short-range motion percept exhibiting apparent global cooperativity can be obtained when collections of randomly located contours are rotated -about-the center of a display, despite the fact that the displacement of peripheral contours falls outside the normal limit of the short-range process. Experiments 2–4 were conducted to provide further evidence that the observed motion is short-range (i.e., it canbe disrupted by illuminating the interstimulus interval or with dichoptic viewing) and that the percept is globally cooperative (i.e., masking the center of the display, where separations between corresponding elements across frames are smallest, results in a decline in the frequency of reports of the short-range percept). Control observations suggest that the effect produced with masks was not due to a decrease in the number of elements in the display. The argument that the display exhibits a short-range process with global cooperativity is further developed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bell, H. H., &Lappin, J. S. (1979). The detection of rotation in random-dot patterns.Perception & Psychophysics,26, 415–417.
Bischof, W. F., &Groner, M. (1985). Beyond the displacement limit: An analysis of short-range processes in apparent motion.Vision Research,25, 839–848.
Braddick, O. J. (1973). The masking of apparent motion in random-dot patterns.Vision Research,13, 355–369.
Braddick, O. J. (1974). Ashort-range process in apparent motion.Vision Research,14, 519–527.
Braddick, O. J., &Adlard, A. J. (1978). Apparent motion and the motion detector. In J. Armington, J. Krauskopt, & B. R. Wooten (Eds.),Visual psychophysics and physiology (pp. 417–426). New York: Academic Press.
Chang, J. J., &Julesz, B. (1984). Cooperative phenomenain apparent movement perception of random-dot cinematograms.Vision Research,24, 1781–1788.
Chang, J. J., &Julesz, B. (1985). Cooperative and non-cooperative processes of apparent movement of random-dot cinematograms.Spatial Vision,1, 39–45.
Gerbino, W. (1984). Low-level and high-level processes in the perceptual organization of three-dimensional apparent motion.Perception,13, 417–428.
Julesz, B. (1971).Foundations of Cyclopean perception. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pantle, A. J., &Petersik, J. T. (1980). Effects of spatial parameters on the perceptual organization of a bistable motion display.Perception & Psychophysics,27, 307–312.
Pantle, A. J., &Picciano, L. (1976). A multistable movement display: Evidence for two separate motion systems in human vision.Science,193, 500–502.
Petersik, J. T. (1989). The two-process distinction in apparent motion.Psychological Bulletin,106, 107–127.
Petersik, J. T., &Pantle, A. J. (1979). Factors controlling the competing sensations produced by a bistable stroboscopic motion display.Vision Research,19, 143–154.
Petersik, J. T., Pufahl, R., &Krasnoff, E. (1983). Failure to find an absolute retinal limit of a putative short-range process in apparent motion.Vision Research,23, 1663–1670.
Siegel, S., &Castellan, J. N., Jr. (1988).Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral Sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ullman, S. (1979).The interpretation of visual motion. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Ullman, S. (1980). The effect of similarity between line segments on the correspondence strength in apparent motion.Perception,9, 617–626.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Petersik, J.T. Global cooperativity of the short-range process in apparent movement: Evidence obtained with contour-containing stimuli. Perception & Psychophysics 47, 360–368 (1990). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210876
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210876