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Updated: Sep 18, 2026

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons
Published on: November 9, 2018
Time constants in the perception of a change in the direction of motion in humans
John F Soechting1, Leigh A Mrotek, Martha Flanders
1Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, 6-145 Jackson Hall, 321 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455-0250, USA. soech001@umn.edu
Abstract:
Motion signals are subject to spatio-temporal filtering at early stages of processing. In general, motion can be characterized by two parameters: speed and direction. This study sought to determine the time constants for the filtering of the directional component of the motion signal. In a forced-choice discrimination task, subjects were asked to choose the more abrupt change in direction of a target that moved through two 90 degrees corners. At each corner, direction of motion was low-pass filtered. Subjects were able to reliably perform this task if the filter time constants differed by >20 ms.
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