Abstract
Ambiguous figures perceptually alternate between different interpretations, and the particular interpretation is known to be affected by context. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of an unambiguous rotating wire cube with various motion parameters on the perceived direction of an adjacent Necker cube continuously rotating at constant speed. The context figure parameters were rotation speed (same as, half, or twice the speed of the ambiguous figure) and rate of reversal (intervals between reversals 2s, 4s, and 8s). The two rotating figures were presented above and below fixation for 32s per trial. Observers indicated via key-press the direction of rotation of the ambiguous figure. Results show that the rate of ambiguous figure reversals was dependent on context, specifically reversal rates were correlated with those of the context figure. For some observers the correlation between reversal rates also depended on the similarity of speeds. These results suggest that changes in motion direction more than speed similarity binds ambiguous object motion to its unambiguous motion context.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2014