Observing object motion induces increased generalization and sensitivity.
Learning to recognize a new object requires binding together dissimilar images of that object into a common representation. Temporal proximity is a useful computational cue for learning invariant representations. We report experiments that demonstrate two distinct psychophysical effects of temporal association via observed object motion on object perception. First, we use an implicit priming criterion to demonstrate that observation of a dynamic object induces generalization over close temporal neighbors. Second, in contrast to predictions from previous work, we find that shape discrimination between images actually improves following the same training procedure. We suggest that these apparently conflicting sets of results, one demonstrating blurring and the other demonstrating sharpening of the perceived distinction between temporally proximate frames, are consistent with a highly redundant code for object appearance.
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 43 Vassar Street, Rm 46-4089, Cambridge, MA 02140, USA. Benjamin.Balas@childrens.harvard.edu
Benjamin
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Balas
Pawan
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Sinha
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D011601:Psychophysics; D055815:Young Adult