Induced visual motion: effects of fixation and retinal position

In the first of two experiments (N = 33) on the effects on induced motion of target fixation and retinal position, better induced motion was always perceived in a target which was fixated and centered on the fovea than in nonfixated target stimuli which projected onto various locations on the periphery. A similar fixation effect was again observed in Exp. 2 (N = 29) when the nonfixated stimuli fell within the fovea. Ratings of induced motion tended to decrease as retinal eccentricity of the nonfixated stimulus increased in both experiments. The results indicate that target fixation and retinal position should be controlled in research on induced motion. Also, the data may emphasize the similarity of real and induced motion perception.