title: Time constants in the perception of a change in the direction of motion in humans.
abstract: Motion signals are subject to spatio-temporal filtering at early stages of processing. In general, motion can be characterized by two parameters: speed and direction. This study sought to determine the time constants for the filtering of the directional component of the motion signal. In a forced-choice discrimination task, subjects were asked to choose the more abrupt change in direction of a target that moved through two 90 degrees corners. At each corner, direction of motion was low-pass filtered. Subjects were able to reliably perform this task if the filter time constants differed by >20 ms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, 6-145 Jackson Hall, 321 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455-0250, USA. soech001@umn.edu
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Soechting
authors.forename: Leigh A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Mrotek
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flanders
mesh_terms: D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D004215:Distance Perception / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009038:Motion; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013996:Time and Motion Studies