Contingent aftereffects: lateral interactions between color and motion

A randomly dotted yellow disk was rotated at a speed of 5 rpm, alternating in direction every 10 sec. Its change in direction of rotation was paired with a change in surround color, which was either red or green. After 15 min of exposure, observers reported vivid motion aftereffects contingent on the color of both the stationary disk and the surround, even though during adaptation only motion or color was associated with either alone. In further experiments, it was established that a change in color (or direction of motion) of the disk could be associated with a change in direction of motion (or color) of the surround. Such lateral effects were found even when a wide (5 degree) annulus was introduced between the disk and the surround during adaptation and testing. Furthermore, the aftereffects generalized to the annulus, which was not associated with either color or motion during adaptation. However, when the disk alone was adapted to color and motion, no generalization to the surround was found (and vice versa), suggesting that the effects are not produced by adaptation of large receptive fields or by scatter of light within the eye. The results appear to conflict with the ideas that contingent aftereffects are confined to the adapted area of the retina and that they are built up by links between single-duty neurones, and with an extreme view of the segregation of color and motion early in human vision.