Studies of open-loop pointing in the presence of induced motion

Abstract

In the present research, we examined the influence of induced motion (IM) on open-loop pointing responses and the possibility that IM alters the registration of either eye or trunk position. In two experiments, subjects tracked a dot that oscillated vertically while a rectangular stimulus oscillated horizontally. The pairing of frame and dot motion caused the dot to appear to move on a slant, due to IM. In the first experiment, the subjects made judgments of the apparent slant of the dot's motion and, on separate trials, pointed open loop at the apparent location of the dot at the endpoints of its motion. Both responses were influenced by IM, although the effect on dot localization was less than the amount predicted by the IM, as indicated by the slant responses. Results were similar immediately following IM and after a 5-sec delay. In the second experiment, the subjects pointed open loop either at the apparent location of the endpoints of the tracked dot's motion or at the apparent location of one of three other briefly flashed stationary dots. The pointing responses directed toward the fixated IM target were influenced by IM to a greater extent than the responses directed toward the stationary dots. The results of the two experiments are inconsistent with the hypothesis that the effect of IM on open-loop pointing at the IM target results completely from altered perception of either eye or trunk position, since misregistration of either would be expected to influence, in a similar fashion, pointing at both the tracked dot and the briefly flashed, stationary targets.