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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior
Published on: April 16, 2014
How do illusions constrain goal-directed movement: perceptual and visuomotor influences on speed/accuracy trade-off
Joshua C Skewes1, Andreas Roepstorff, Christopher D Frith
1Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University Hospital, Nørrebrogade 44, Bygning 10G, 5. Sal, 8000 Århus C, Denmark. filjcs@hum.au.dk
Abstract:
Recent research shows that visual processing influences the speed/accuracy trade-off people use when performing goal-directed movement. This raises the question of how this influence is produced in visual cognition. Visual influences on speed/accuracy trade-off could be produced in conscious visual perception, in non-conscious visuomotor transformation, or by some interaction of conscious perceptual and non-conscious visuomotor processes. There is independent evidence showing that both perceptual and visuomotor processes are involved in trading off speed and accuracy; however, the interaction between these processes has yet to be investigated. We present an experiment in which we show that a change in visual consciousness induced by a perceptual illusion affects the speed and accuracy of goal-directed movements, suggesting that perceptual and visuomotor processes do interact in speed/accuracy trade-off. We discuss the consequences of these results for theories of visual function more generally.
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