Interactions between the fovea and the periphery shape misbinding of visual features in a continuous report paradigm

Human object perception depends on the proper integration of multiple visual features, such as color and motion. When features are integrated incorrectly, they are perceptually misbound and can cause illusions. This study investigates the phenomenon of continuous misbinding of color and motion features in peripheral vision, addressing the role of spatial continuity and color configuration in binding processes. Using a novel continuous report task, human subjects reported the perceived movement direction of color-coded dots in the peripheral visual field that were either congruent or incongruent with a foveal stimulus. Results indicate that spatial continuity is crucial for feature misbinding, with a marked decrease in peripheral perceptions bound to match foveal perception when the foveal and peripheral stimuli are spatially disjointed. Additionally, performance improved significantly when peripheral and foveal features were aligned, suggesting a 'positive illusion' effect where congruent features enhance perceptual accuracy. This effect was independent of the color pairings used, challenging the notion that color processing discrepancies might drive erroneous perception in this stimulus. These findings highlight the complex interplay between spatial configuration and perceptual accuracy in visual feature integration, with implications for understanding the neural basis of vision and developing applications to address perceptual inaccuracies in visual disorders.