TY - JOUR
T1 - Independent Effects of Adaptation and Attention on Perceived Speed
AU - Anton-Erxleben, Katharina
AU - Herrmann, Katrin
AU - Carrasco, Marisa
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, National Research Service Award No. 1F32EY021420 to K. A.-E., and National Institutes of Health Grant Nos. R01-EY019693 and EY016200 to M. C.
PY - 2013/2
Y1 - 2013/2
N2 - Adaptation and attention are two mechanisms by which sensory systems manage limited bioenergetic resources: Whereas adaptation decreases sensitivity to stimuli just encountered, attention increases sensitivity to behaviorally relevant stimuli. In the visual system, these changes in sensitivity are accompanied by a change in the appearance of different stimulus dimensions, such as speed. Adaptation causes an underestimation of speed, whereas attention leads to an overestimation of speed. In the two experiments reported here, we investigated whether the effects of these mechanisms interact and how they affect the appearance of stimulus features. We tested the effects of adaptation and the subsequent allocation of attention on perceived speed. A quickly moving adaptor decreased the perceived speed of subsequent stimuli, whereas a slow adaptor did not alter perceived speed. Attention increased perceived speed regardless of the adaptation effect, which indicates that adaptation and attention affect perceived speed independently. Moreover, the finding that attention can alter perceived speed after adaptation indicates that adaptation is not merely a by-product of neuronal fatigue.
AB - Adaptation and attention are two mechanisms by which sensory systems manage limited bioenergetic resources: Whereas adaptation decreases sensitivity to stimuli just encountered, attention increases sensitivity to behaviorally relevant stimuli. In the visual system, these changes in sensitivity are accompanied by a change in the appearance of different stimulus dimensions, such as speed. Adaptation causes an underestimation of speed, whereas attention leads to an overestimation of speed. In the two experiments reported here, we investigated whether the effects of these mechanisms interact and how they affect the appearance of stimulus features. We tested the effects of adaptation and the subsequent allocation of attention on perceived speed. A quickly moving adaptor decreased the perceived speed of subsequent stimuli, whereas a slow adaptor did not alter perceived speed. Attention increased perceived speed regardless of the adaptation effect, which indicates that adaptation and attention affect perceived speed independently. Moreover, the finding that attention can alter perceived speed after adaptation indicates that adaptation is not merely a by-product of neuronal fatigue.
KW - attention
KW - visual perception
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U2 - 10.1177/0956797612449178
DO - 10.1177/0956797612449178
M3 - Article
C2 - 23241456
AN - SCOPUS:84873527425
VL - 24
SP - 150
EP - 159
JO - Psychological Science
JF - Psychological Science
SN - 0956-7976
IS - 2
ER -