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Serial dependence and representational momentum in single-trial perceptual decisions
D Pascucci1,2, G Plomp3
1Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland. david.pascucci@epfl.ch.
Scientific Reports
|May 11, 2021
Summary
The human brain uses past and future sensory information for perceptual decisions. This study shows errors shift towards both past stimuli and future predictions, revealing dual temporal influences on perception.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Perception Psychology
Background:
- The human brain predicts future events based on temporal dynamics.
- Perception can be biased by past experiences or future expectations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how perceptual decisions are influenced by both past and future sensory information.
- To differentiate the processing mechanisms of serial dependence and representational momentum.
Main Methods:
- An orientation adjustment task was employed.
- Single-trial errors in perceptual decisions were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Perceptual errors were displaced towards previous stimulus features (serial dependence).
- Errors were also displaced towards future sensory signal states (representational momentum).
- Serial dependence operates independently of object representation, while representational momentum requires coherent object dynamics.
Conclusions:
- Perceptual decisions are simultaneously influenced by past and future sensory signals.
- Serial dependence and representational momentum represent distinct temporal processing mechanisms.
- These findings support independent temporal binding of stimuli and decisions.
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