The perceived paths of apparent movements

Phenomenal cross or rebound

Abstract

The perception of the apparent movement path was examined under the conditions of 8 path-patterns, 6 eye positions and 2 kinds of moving objects. Nineteen male subjects binocularly observed the apparent movement of two spots that were presented on a computer display. The subjects were asked to report whether the spots seemed to cross or rebound at their meeting point. Two paths were vertical and horizontal cross patterns that were uncovered and 6 paths were partially covered around the middle of the paths. The spots were generally perceived to cross when the paths were uncovered, and were seen to rebound when the paths were covered. The rebound perception became greater with increasing size of the cover. The eye positions had an effect on the perception: the free observation without fixation points resulted in greater cross perception. The color of the moving spots had no clear effects on the perception. The paths were phenomenally curved in the rebound perception, and this phenomenon reveals the crucial differences between the perception of stationary forms and the perception of apparent movement paths.