A landmark effect in the perceived displacement of objects.

Area of Science:

• Visual perception
• Cognitive neuroscience
• Human psychophysics

Background:

• Perceiving object displacement is crucial for real-world interaction.
• The landmark effect biases perception, making the first object appear stable and the second moving after a saccade.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the generality of the landmark effect beyond eye movements.
• To explore the underlying mechanisms of the landmark effect.

Main Methods:

• The landmark effect was tested without eye movements, using blank screens, pattern masks, and brief object disappearances.
• Participants perceived the displacement of objects under various visual occlusion conditions.

Main Results:

• The landmark effect persisted even when eye movements were absent.
• The bias occurred regardless of whether the first object remained visible when the second reappeared.
• Perceived displacement direction was primarily influenced by the relative displacement of the two objects.

Conclusions:

• The landmark effect is a robust phenomenon, not solely dependent on eye movements.
• A landmark calibration mechanism, based on relative object displacement, likely underlies this perceptual bias.