title: The influence of motion quality on responses towards video playback stimuli.
abstract: Visual motion, a critical cue in communication, can be manipulated and studied using video playback methods. A primary concern for the video playback researcher is the degree to which objects presented on video appear natural to the non-human subject. Here we argue that the quality of motion cues on video, as determined by the video's image presentation rate (IPR), are of particular importance in determining a subject's social response behaviour. We present an experiment testing the effect of variations in IPR on pigeon (Columbia livia) response behaviour towards video images of courting opposite sex partners. Male and female pigeons were presented with three video playback stimuli, each containing a different social partner. Each stimulus was then modified to appear at one of three IPRs: 15, 30 or 60 progressive (p) frames per second. The results showed that courtship behaviour became significantly longer in duration as IPR increased. This finding implies that the IPR significantly affects the perceived quality of motion cues impacting social behaviour. In males we found that the duration of courtship also depended on the social partner viewed and that this effect interacted with the effects of IPR on behaviour. Specifically, the effect of social partner reached statistical significance only when the stimuli were displayed at 60 p, demonstrating the potential for erroneous results when insufficient IPRs are used. In addition to demonstrating the importance of IPR in video playback experiments, these findings help to highlight and describe the role of visual motion processing in communication behaviour.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queen's University, 99 University Ave, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, 99 University Ave, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada Wellesley Institute, 10 Alcorn Ave #300, Toronto, ON M4V 3B1, Canada emma@wellesleyinstitute.com.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ware
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queen's University, 99 University Ave, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada Centre for Brain/Mind Sciences, University of Trento, via Calepina, 14-38122 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queen's University, 99 University Ave, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, 99 University Ave, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada Department of Biology, Queen's University, 99 University Ave, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, 180 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON M5G 1Z8, Canada.
authors.forename: Nikolaus F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Troje
keywords: Biological motion perception; Presentation rate; Social perception; Video playback; Visual communication