title: Multiple-object tracking is based on scene, not retinal, coordinates.
abstract: This study tested whether multiple-object tracking-the ability to visually index objects on the basis of their spatiotemporal history-is scene based or image based. Initial experiments showed equivalent tracking accuracy for objects in 2-D and 3-D motion. Subsequent experiments manipulated the speeds of objects independent of the speed of the scene as a whole. Results showed that tracking accuracy was influenced by object speed but not by scene speed. This held true whether the scene underwent translation, zoom, rotation, or even combinations of all 3 motions. A final series of experiments interfered with observers' ability to see a coherent scene by moving objects at different speeds from one another and by distorting the perception of 3-D space. These reductions in scene coherence led to reduced tracking accuracy, confirming that tracking is accomplished using a scene-based, or allocentric, frame of reference.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Geniva
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Erin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Austen
authors.forename: Kellogg S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Booth
authors.forename: Brian D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Ritchie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Argue
authors.forename: Mark I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Rempel
authors.forename: James T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Enns
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003463:Cues; D003867:Depth Perception; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D011601:Psychophysics; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*