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Updated: May 7, 2026

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Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory
Published on: August 15, 2010
Sensory memory of illusory depth in structure-from-motion.
Alexander Pastukhov1, Anna Lissner, Jana Füllekrug
1Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany, pastukhov.alexander@gmail.com.
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|October 8, 2013
Summary
Sensory memory for structure-from-motion (SFM) displays shows independent traces for illusory depth and rotation. Changes in volumetric shape, not color or size, affect these memory traces.
Area of Science:
- Visual perception
- Cognitive neuroscience
- Computational neuroscience
Background:
- Multistable displays stabilize perception via sensory memory.
- Independent memory traces exist for different stimuli and ambiguous features.
- Structure-from-motion (SFM) has ambiguous illusory rotation and depth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if sensory memories for SFM's ambiguous properties (rotation and depth) are independent.
- To determine if memory specificity and influencing factors differ between SFM's depth and rotation.
Main Methods:
- Used intermittent presentation and a forced-ambiguous-switch paradigm.
- Dissociated sensory memories for illusory depth and illusory rotation in SFM.
- Manipulated volumetric properties, color, and size to assess history effects.
Main Results:
- Sensory memory for illusory depth in SFM is independent of illusory rotation.
- Memory specificity levels were identical for both illusory depth and rotation.
- History effects were reduced by changes in volumetric shape, but not color or size.
Conclusions:
- Sensory memory for SFM exhibits independent traces for distinct ambiguous properties.
- Findings provide constraints for models of sensory memory and SFM processing.
- Volumetric shape is a key factor influencing SFM sensory memory specificity.
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