title: Perception and the strongest sensory memory trace of multi-stable displays both form shortly after the stimulus onset.
abstract: We investigated the relation between perception and sensory memory of multi-stable structure-from-motion displays. The latter is an implicit visual memory that reflects a recent history of perceptual dominance and influences only the initial perception of multi-stable displays. First, we established the earliest time point when the direction of an illusory rotation can be reversed after the display onset (29-114 ms). Because our display manipulation did not bias perception towards a specific direction of illusory rotation but only signaled the change in motion, this means that the perceptual dominance was established no later than 29-114 ms after the stimulus onset. Second, we used orientation-selectivity of sensory memory to establish which display orientation produced the strongest memory trace and when this orientation was presented during the preceding prime interval (80-140 ms). Surprisingly, both estimates point towards the time interval immediately after the display onset, indicating that both perception and sensory memory form at approximately the same time. This suggests a tighter integration between perception and sensory memory than previously thought, warrants a reconsideration of its role in visual perception, and indicates that sensory memory could be a unique behavioral correlate of the earlier perceptual inference that can be studied post hoc.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychology and Methodology, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Markusplatz 3, 96047, Bamberg, Germany. pastukhov.alexander@gmail.com.|Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany. pastukhov.alexander@gmail.com.|Cognitive Biology, Otto-von-Guericke Universität, Magdeburg, Germany. pastukhov.alexander@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pastukhov
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012399:Rotation; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Implicit visual memory; Kinetic-depth effect; Multi-stable perception; Perceptual inference; Perceptual memory; Sensory memory; Structure-from-motion