Stationary patterns suppress the perception of stroboscopic motion

Two spatially separated vertical bar stimuli briefly flashed in temporal sequence produced strong sensations of stroboscopic apparent motion; particularly at intermediate onset asynchronies. The sustained presence of two additional stationary vertical bars flanking the two movement-inducing bars during their presentation significantly decreased the rated magnitude of the sensation of stroboscopic motion. Control experiments rule out contrast reduction of the movement-inducing bars by the stationary flanking bars as a source of the decrease of the rated magnitude of stroboscopic motion. These results are related to similar effects observed in metacontrast and suggest that sustained channels responding to stationary patterns inhibit transient channels responding to brief or rapid image displacements giving rise to perception of stroboscopic motion.