title: Motor contributions to the perception of relative phase.
abstract: The extent to which different stimulus elements move together, namely their relative phase, is a central visual feature of many social and physical systems; characterizing everything from the oscillations of a walker's limbs to the alternating lights at pedestrian crossings. The experiments described here provide the first evidence of a motor contribution to the representation of relative phase. Using an interference paradigm, we demonstrate that a motor load dramatically impairs discrimination of relative phase. Comparable interference effects were observed for biological and mechanical stimuli, indicative of a domain-general mechanism. In addition, we show that the same motor load has little effect on a similar static-angle matching task, and that an auditory rhythmic load did not interfere with phase discriminations in the same way as the motor load. These results suggest that the motor system contributes to the perception of relative phase; information crucial for interpreting our social and physical environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, City University London.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gaule
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London.
authors.forename: Clarisse
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aichelburg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Press
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult