Can Rotational Grouping Be Determined by the Initial Conditions?. (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dobbins, Allan C.; Grossmann, Jon K.
• Is Part Of: I-Perception. Volume 9:Number 1(2018)
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: kinetic depth effect -- structure from motion -- bistable perception -- perceptual grouping -- transparency -- initial conditions; Perception -- Periodicals; Visual perception -- Periodicals; Perception; Perception; Electronic journals; Periodical; Fulltext; Internet Resources; Periodicals; Periodicals; 153.7
• DOI: 10.1177/2041669517748338
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2041-6695

Abstract

Objects rotating in depth with an ambiguous rotation direction frequently appear to rotate together. Corotation is especially strong when the objects are interpretable as having a shared axis. We manipulated the initial conditions of the experiment by having pairs of objects initially appear to be unambiguous, and then make either a sudden or gradual transition to ambiguous spin. We find that in neither case do coaxial counter-rotating objects persist in being perceived as counter-rotating. This implies that the perceptual constraint that favors coaxial corotation overrides the initial perceptual state of the objects.