Visual velocity input-output functions: the integration of distance and duration onto subjective velocity

Subjects made magnitude estimations of moving stimuli produced by a 10 X 10 factorial design of distances and durations. Both group and individual data obeyed the bilinear interaction prediction of a simple ratio model. The relation between perceived and actual velocity, as well as the psychophysical contingencies constructed from the marginal means of the design, could be described by a power function with an exponent of about 0.63 as a representative figure. Plotting subjective velocity against physical velocity with either duration or distance as the parameter resulted, respectively, in families of converging psychophysical power functions. Some implications of the results for velocity research, especially the usefulness of specifying the correct metric structure, are discussed.