Abstract
When the eyes are engaged in pursuit movements, the image of a stationary object shifts on the retina, but such a target is either perceived as stationary or seems to move only little. This is the result of a compensation process called position constancy, which takes the eye movements into account. Becklen, Wallach, and Nitzberg (1984) reported that position constancy does not operate when the target undergoes a motion of its own, in a direction that differs from the direction of the eye movements. Other findings have indicated that position constancy has an effect when the target motion is colinear with the eye movements, but the accuracy with which it then operates has not been known. We measured how correctly motions that were colinear with eye movements were perceived and found that the extents of target motions were accurately perceived when they were in the same direction as the eye movement, but that position constancy showed a small, but distinct, lag when eye-movement and target motions were in opposite directions.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Becklen, R., Wallach, H., &Nitzberg, D (1984) A limitation of position constancy.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance,10, 713–723.
Johansson, G. (1950).Configurations in event perception. Uppsala, Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksells.
Mack, A., &Herman, E. (1973). Position constancy during pursuit eye movements: An investigation of the Filehne illusion.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,25, 71–84.
Mack, A, &Herman E. (1978). The loss of position constancy during pursuit eye movements.Vision Research,18, 55–62.
Wallach, H., Bacon, J., &Schulman, P (1978). Adaptation in motion perception: Alteration of induced motion.Perception & Psychophysics,24, 509–514.
Wallach, H., Becklen, R., &Nitzberg, D. (1985). Vector analysis and process combination in motion perception.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance,11, 93–102
Wallach, H., O’leary, A., &McMahon, M. L (1982) Three stimuli for visual motion perception compared.Perception & Psychophysics,32, 1–6
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was supported by Grant BNS 83-18772 from the National Science Foundation to Swarthmore College, Hans Wallach, principal investigator.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wallach, H., Becklen, R. & Nitzberg, D. The perception of motion during colinear eye movements. Perception & Psychophysics 38, 18–22 (1985). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202919
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202919