Parallel search for conjunctions with stimuli in apparent motion

A series of experiments was conducted to determine whether apparent motion tends to follow the similarity rule (i.e. is attribute-specific) and to investigate the underlying mechanism. Stimulus duration thresholds were measured during a two-alternative forced-choice task in which observers detected either the location or the motion direction of target groups defined by the conjunction of size and orientation. Target element positions were randomly chosen within a nominally defined rectangular subregion of the display (target region). The target region was presented either statically (followed by a 250 ms duration mask) or dynamically, displaced by a small distance (18 min of arc) from frame to frame. In the motion display, the position of both target and background elements was changed randomly from frame to frame within the respective areas to abolish spatial correspondence over time. Stimulus duration thresholds were lower in the motion than in the static task, indicating that target detection in the dynamic condition does not rely on the explicit identification of target elements in each static frame. Increasing the distractor-to-target ratio was found to reduce detectability in the static, but not in the motion task. This indicates that the perceptual segregation of the target is effortless and parallel with motion but not with static displays. The pattern of results holds regardless of the task or search paradigm employed. The detectability in the motion condition can be improved by increasing the number of frames and/or by reducing the width of the target area. Furthermore, parallel search in the dynamic condition can be conducted with both short-range and long-range motion stimuli. Finally, apparent motion of conjunctions is insufficient on its own to support location decision and is disrupted by random visual noise. Overall, these findings show that (i) the mechanism underlying apparent motion is attribute-specific; (ii) the motion system mediates temporal integration of feature conjunctions before they are identified by the static system; and (iii) target detectability in these stimuli relies upon a nonattentive, cooperative, directionally selective motion mechanism that responds to high-level attributes (conjunction of size and orientation).