Investigating opposite direction motion reports in random dot kinematograms

ABSTRACT

Continuous outcome random dot kinematogram (RDK) tasks reveal that participants sometimes produce Opposite Direction Motion Reports (ODMRs), motion reports in the opposite direction to that presented. The stimulus conditions that produce ODMRs have not been systematically identified. One theory proposes that spatio-temporal filtering properties of motion-sensitive neurons cause occasional misperception of motion direction, but not its axis. To test this “temporal smearing” hypothesis, we conducted a continuous outcome RDK experiment using two different stimulus display frame rates: 120 Hz and 60 Hz. This manipulation selectively increased the rate of ODMRs in the 120 Hz condition, supporting the temporal smearing hypothesis. Additionally, people reported higher confidence levels for ODMRs compared to other error responses. Our results highlight two distinct error classes on RDK tasks, and that ODMR incidence can be partially controlled by manipulating stimulus frame rate. These data have important implications for modelling behaviour on RDK tasks.

KEYWORDS:

• Opposite direction motion report
• continuous direction estimation
• motion perception
• opposite direction
• decision confidence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions [grant number 842143] and the European Research Council Consolidator Grant IndDecision [grant number 865474], and Science Foundation Ireland No. 21/PATH-S/9643 (EC).