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Does across-trial target behavior influence representational momentum?
Susan E Ruppel1, Timothy L Hubbard2
1University of South Carolina Upstate, USA.
Perception
|December 10, 2024
Summary
This study investigated how past target behaviors affect representational momentum. Findings indicate that prior trial stimuli, whether moving, stationary, or in varying directions, did not influence current representational momentum, challenging expectation-based theories.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Perception and Motor Control
Background:
- Representational momentum describes the tendency to perceive moving objects as having traveled further than they have.
- Understanding factors influencing representational momentum is crucial for cognitive theories of motion perception and expectation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if the frequency and direction of target stimuli on preceding trials impact representational momentum for a current target.
- To test the role of learned expectations in modulating representational momentum.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1 manipulated the proportion of moving versus stationary targets across trials.
- Experiment 2 manipulated the proportion of rightward versus leftward motion across trials.
- Participants' representational momentum was measured under different statistical regularities of target presentation.
Main Results:
- Representational momentum was unaffected by the majority of preceding trials featuring stationary targets, same-direction motion, or opposite-direction motion.
- Statistical regularities in target presentation did not alter the magnitude of representational momentum.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest that representational momentum is robust and not easily influenced by learned expectations derived from trial history.
- Results challenge theories positing that representational momentum is primarily driven by predictive mechanisms based on contextual statistics.
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