The role of object history in establishing object correspondence

Our visual system establishes correspondence between objects and thus enables us to perceive an object, like a car on the road, as moving continuously. A central question regarding correspondence is whether our visual system uses relatively unprocessed image-based information or further processed object-based information to establish correspondence. While it has been shown that some object-based attributes, such as perceived lightness, can influence correspondence, manipulating object-based information typically involves at least minimal changes of image-based information as well, making it difficult to clearly distinguish between the two levels. To avoid this confound, we manipulated object-based information prior to the task in which we measured correspondence. We used 3-element Ternus displays to assess correspondence. These are ambiguous apparent-motion displays that, depending on how correspondence is solved, are perceived as either one element jumping across the others or as all three elements moving together as a group. We manipulated object-based information by presenting one of two object histories prior to the Ternus display. In one, they moved or changed luminance independently, and thus appeared independent from each other. In the other, the elements moved or changed their luminance all together and thus appeared grouped with each other. We found that the object history did influence how the Ternus displays were perceived, thereby confirming that object-based information alone can be used as a basis for establishing correspondence in line with object-based theories of correspondence.