Perception of initial moving target signals: support for a cumulative lateral inhibition theory

The cumulative lateral inhibition (CLI) theory of the Fröhlich effect (perceptual mislocalization of the starting position of a moving target in the direction of movement) proposes that the target is difficult to see early in its trajectory because inhibitory feedback from later target views weakens initial target representations. In contrast, attention shift explanations contend that a phenomenal representation of the target is unavailable until attention has shifted to the vicinity of the target. Experiments 1-3 demonstrated that instructing naive undergraduate participants to accept different degrees of target clarity before making their response can alter the magnitude (and presence) of the Fröhlich effect. Experiments 2-4 showed that increasing movement distance by adding target presentations reduced the visibility of the target at early positions. These results are difficult to reconcile with an attention shift account.