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Published on: January 23, 2017
Psychophysical differences in processing of global motion and form detection and position discrimination
Benjamin M Harvey1, Oliver J Braddick
1Visual Development Unit, Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, UK. benjamin.harvey@psy.ox.ac.uk
Journal of Vision
|January 17, 2009
Summary
Accurate localization of motion patterns depends on local processing, unlike pattern detection which uses global processing. This finding impacts models of heading determination.
Area of Science:
- Visual perception
- Neuroscience
- Computational modeling
Background:
- Heading determination models often assume motion center localization is implicit and globally processed.
- Optic flow patterns, crucial for navigation, can be complex, involving translational motion and global field processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the processing mechanisms underlying the localization of complex motion patterns.
- To contrast the localization of motion patterns with their detection and coarse localization.
Main Methods:
- Psychophysics experiments were conducted using expanding, contracting, rotating, radial, and concentric motion patterns.
- Stimuli included symmetrical complex motion patterns and analogous forms.
- Localization and detection performance were assessed under varying conditions.
Main Results:
- Accurate localization of complex motion patterns relies on local processing near the pattern's center.
- Pattern detection involves significant spatial summation and global processing, showing high tolerance to noise.
- Coarse localization utilizes both central and peripheral information with some spatial summation.
Conclusions:
- Accurate motion center localization is primarily a local process, challenging existing models of heading determination.
- The distinction between local localization and global detection suggests different neural substrates.
- Current models of heading determination may require revision to account for local processing in accurate localization.
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